Firefighters spent more than five hours trying to control a blaze that virtually gutted the top floor of a timber-framed house.

Damage - the fire virtually destroyed the top floor of the house. 41203-2

Crews from Tiptree, Coggeshall and Witham had to tear away sections of wall inside the house to reach smouldering wooden beams, according to Tiptree station officer Glenn Lambard.

Several local residents alerted the fire service to the blaze, which started at about 8.30pm yesterday at a property in High Street, Kelvedon.

The owner, who declined to give his name, said the blaze started in a fireplace and spread to a cavity wall.

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Published Thursday, February 24, 2005

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