Firefighters battle to save the restaurant A fire ripped through a flat above a balti house in Oxford but staff rallied round and were serving food just nine hours later.

The Indian Garden was empty when a passer-by raised the alarm after spotting smoke billowing from a window above the restaurant in a 19th century building in High Street shortly after 10am yesterday.

It took crews in three fire engines from Rewley Road station only about 10 minutes to put out the fire, but flames had already spread through a three-bedroom flat in the top floor of the four-storey building.

No-one was in the flat, but firefighters discovered two men in a neighbouring apartment -- who had been oblivious to the fire -- and led them to safety.

The flat, used by Haroon Khan as storage space for his restaurant two floors below, was seriously damaged. Mr Khan was told about the fire in a telephone call from a friend and said he was devastated when he arrived outside the building and that he initially feared for the future of his businesses.

But throughout the afternoon he and his staff busied themselves cleaning the restaurant and managed to open for a few customers last night.

Mr Khan said: "I've spent the past 17 or 18 years building this business and it's my life. I can't just let something like this beat me now."

Leading firefighter assistant divisional officer Ashley Gurr, of Rewley Road station, said the fire's cause was still being investigated, but ruled out suspicious circumstances.

Buses and taxis were diverted and the pavement closed to pedestrians as police officers cordoned off a section of High Street while firefighters used a hydraulic platform to clear debris from the flat.