FIREFIGHTERS spent eight hours tackling a huge blaze which destroyed a home in Heybridge.

Crews from five fire stations, including Maldon, Tiptree and Witham, were called to Larch Walk, Heybridge, at 10.21pm yesterday.

After arriving at the scene, they discovered a fire which had taken hold of an entire property but had not spread to any neighbouring homes.

The firefighters battled the blaze for hours before isolating the gas and electricity to the house at about 3am.

They remained at the scene into the early morning to ensure the house was completely cooled.

Thankfully, nobody is reported to have been injured as a result of the inferno but the home in question was destroyed. 

Incident commander Dan Kirk praised his colleagues for preventing the fire from worsening.

He said: "When our crews arrived they were faced with an end-terrace house that was completely alight. 

"The roof quickly collapsed and our concern was that the fire would spread to adjoining properties. 

"Our crews did a fantastic job of surrounding the fire both from the ground and above and bringing it under control quickly.

"It's incredible the fire hasn't spread, and it's thanks to the firefighters' skill and hard work that we're not looking at multiple houses involved in this fire."

An investigation to establish the cause of the fire will now take place.