Firefighters were called out after staff at a Westcliff mobile phone store saw smoke coming from an electrical fitting.

Crews from Southend fire station arrived at the Carphone Warehouse in Prince Avenue at 3pm yesterday but found shop workers had already put out the fire.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "Staff noticed smoke coming from an electrical fitting in the wall and called us.

"They put out the fire themselves but they wanted to make sure the area was safe.

"We spent about 20 minutes at the scene just making sure everything was OK."

Anthony Neale, manager at the Carphone Warehouse, said: "There was a small electrical fire in an isolated light socket and one of my staff put it out before the fire brigade arrived."

Published Wednesday, April 9, 2003

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