A Harvester restaurant on the West Sussex coast has been ravaged by a huge blaze that firefighters spent more than fire hours tackling on Thursday.
Fire crews were scrambled to the scene around 9am, after a blaze broke out in the kitchen area of the Windmill Harvester in Littlehampton.
Video from the scene showed a huge plume of black smoke rising high into the air, as West Sussex Fire and Rescue urged residents to keep doors and windows shut.
The brigade said in an update around 11.15am that its presence had been escalated, and there were 12 fire engines at the scene along with two aerial ladder platforms, and two water carriers.
Footage showed the chain restaurant engulfed in flames.
Sue Lovell, who lives in a flat nearby the Harvester, told the Standard: “I saw the smoke initially with fire crews arriving and it just spread rapidly out of control.”
By around 11am, the entire roof and majority of the building’s first floor appeared to have been destroyed.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue area manager Gary Ball said: “We attended a call this morning at 9am - a significant fire in the kitchen space of the Harvester, which has unfortunately spread to the roof space.
“When we arrived the building had been fully evacuated, and there have been no injuries on scene due to the fire today.
“We have a number of resources here from many emergency services, all working hard to try and put the fire out and protect neighbouring buildings.”
Mr Ball said protecting nearby buildings was the brigade’s priority, and added the nearby Windmill Entertainment Centre - which features a theatre and cinemas, and adjoins the Harvester buildings - “is being well protected”.
The brigade confirmed around 2.30pm that the fire was finally out, adding that firefighters will remain at the scene to monitor and damp down hotspots.
“Relief crews are continuing to be brought in to support the response to this incident,” said the brigade. “Fortunately the neighbouring buildings have been saved.
“We would encourage people to continue to avoid the area due to the large amount of smoke still in the air and to allow our firefighters to work safely.”
