Passers-by spotted smoke coming from a roof and alerted the owner of a property to a house fire.

Firefighters were called to Sandon Hill, Ford End, this morning at around 3.15am.

Neighbours had spotted smoke coming from the roof of the property and alerted the owner who called 999.

When crews arrived they found the house was full of smoke and the fire was breaking through the roof.

While a team of firefighters set about tackling the fire, another crew helped to salvage some items from inside to protect them from water damage.

The road was closed by Essex Police so firefighters could deal with the incident safely.

Luckily crews managed to stop the fire spreading to the rest of the property, but it suffered smoke and water damage.

The fire was limited to the roof space.

At 6.30am the initial fire crews were relieved by one fire crew who continued to damped down and make the scene safe.

The cause of the fire will be investigated.