FIRE crews raced to the scene of a blaze in the early hours of this morning.

On arrival, crews discovered a fire on the ground floor of a property in Divinity Road, Oxford.

Six crew members entered the property wearing breathing apparatus and extinguished the fire using high pressure hose reels.

Nobody was found at the premises, which is under renovation.

See also: MINI plant set to reopen despite lockdown

Due to the considerable time the fire had been burning for undetected, both the ceilings and floors on the ground and first floor had collapsed.

A fire investigation was carried out, which determined the most likely cause of fire was an electrical fault.

Incident commander crew manager Paul White said: “Thanks to a swift call from a passerby that a chimney fire appeared to be occurring and that smoke alarms could be heard sounding within the property, it allowed us to arrive quickly and prevent much more significant damage to the home.

“This is a timely reminder that an early call to the fire service upon discovery of a suspected fire can make a big impact on minimising the damage caused.

“This also strengthens our continued message to ensure all properties have working and regularly-tested smoke alarms.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.