Roof fire caused by electrical fault in loft

A blaze in a historic part of a Lincolnshire town that saw a "large-scale response" from fire crews was caused by an electrical fault in a loft.

Ten fire engines were called to St Mary's Lane, Louth, just after 10:00 BST on Thursday.

Helen Tooley, divisional commander at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said the call had been made by the house's owners after they had got out.

There were no injuries.

Ms Tooley said the fire was discovered when "someone in the bathroom thought they could smell smoke and went to check the loft space".

During the firefighting operation, she added: "It's quite a large roof space. We have stopped it spreading to certain areas but there is still a lot of work to do."

The incident was under control by 14:50 BST, but several fire engines – including two aerial ladder platforms – remained at the scene, and the road was closed until later.

Peter Church, who lives on St Mary's Lane, said he had heard "fairly early on from a neighbour that there was a fire".

He added: "[Smoke] was coming through the roof, as were the flames, so we knew it was pretty serious."

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