Homes evacuated as firefighters tackle huge blaze in Essex seaside town
An image from the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service shows how flames engulfed the building on West Avenue, Clacton-on-Sea, in the early hours of Monday.
A second photograph taken after the blaze was extinguished shows how the fire almost completely gutted the building and destroyed a vehicle parked outside.
There have been no reports of any injuries and the fire service said the cause of the blaze will be investigated when it is "safe to do so".
The building housed the Codgers of Clacton furniture store and the Easy Mobility Services office.
John Jacobs, operations support lead at Easy Mobility Services, told Sky News the premises has been "completely gutted".
He added: "All we know is it happened overnight, we understand the whole block is going to be condemned, it will need to come down as far as we know."
Mr Jacobs continued: "We're disappointed for our customers. We have a very big customer base in the Clacton area, most of whom are disabled and have mobility issues, so our focus right now is to make sure we continue to meet their requirements and serve them."
A spokeswoman from Easy Mobility Services said the fire did not start in its premises.
Essex fire service's incident commander Nick Singleton said nearby Jackson Road, Penfold Road and Agate Road were all shut as firefighters tackled the blaze through the night.
People living nearby the blaze were evacuated from their homes, while other residents were told to keep their windows and doors closed due to the smoke.
Tendring District Council set up a refuge centre for those who were displaced.
Mr Singleton later posted an update at 7am on Monday morning to say the fire had been extinguished.
He added crews will remain at the scene to "monitor and dampen down any hotspots".
He continued: "I'd like to say a big thank you to the crews who worked extremely hard to stop the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. As well as a thank you to our emergency services partners for their help, the Premier Inn for providing a refuge centre and local residents for being patient with us while we deal with the incident."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
13 minutes ago
- Times
We're delulu if we think new words should be resisted
Times readers are doubtless better informed than me, but I'd not heard till yesterday the words (or as linguists say, lexemes) delulu or tradwife. These mean, roughly and respectively, 'willingly credulous' and 'woman who conforms, often volubly, to a traditional gender role'. They're included this week, like some 6,000 other words or phrases, in the Cambridge Dictionary for the first time. Perhaps you, and almost certainly I, will find scant use for them but they're real words. Their lexicographical recognition is not a fad. Nor does it evince a decline in linguistic standards. Rather, it shows the vibrancy of English usage and imaginativeness of English speakers. Not everyone agrees that lexical change is benign. An ostensibly lighthearted Channel 5 News debate about new dictionary entries in 2013 dwelt on twerking. Shown a video of the singer Miley Cyrus twerking, Nevile Gwynne (billed as an English language expert and author of the bestselling Gwynne's Grammar) described the inclusion of the word in the dictionary as 'deplorable, degenerate and deeply shocking'. Less colourfully, the journalist and historian Simon Heffer, a longstanding friendly antagonist of mine in the language wars, recognises that new words continually enter the language yet complains when dictionary compilers have 'surrendered to usage'. This is all immoderately misguided. Dictionaries record usage so we can learn the semantics, etymology and history of any given word. Sometimes these usages are slang, being the currency of particular demographic groups (especially but not only young people). I want to know what they mean; a dictionary that shuns them won't help me. Moreover, these new words are almost always nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs. Other lexical categories, including prepositions, determinatives, and subordinators, almost never expand their membership. New words are coined all the time, yet the grammar of English changes only slowly. We have no problem understanding each other. Jonathan Swift, a stickler for correctness, complained when mob entered common usage, for it was, he objected, a crude abbreviation of the noun phrase mobile vulgus. Well, so much for that. Where new words serve a need, they're retained. Perhaps delulu or skibidi (another new entry in the Cambridge Dictionary, with several divergent meanings) will become swiftly obsolete. But there's no sense in regretting new words if, like selfie or catfishing or woke, they take hold. In every generation there are complaints that lexical and sometimes grammatical innovation is 'bad English'. Such ululations are always wrong, and always will be.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Parents' top school uniform confessions from drying clothes with a hairdryer to colouring in scuffed shoes, survey shows
PARENTS' top school uniform confessions include colouring in their children's scuffed shoes with markers and blow-drying damp uniforms minutes before the school run to keep it looking tip top, a survey has revealed. A poll, of 1,000 mums and dads of school-aged kids, revealed the creative - and sometimes chaotic - lengths they go to in order to get their kids through the term in one piece. 1 Sending their youngsters off in mismatched socks, patching up rips in skirts with safety-pins, drying clothes with a hair dryer and glueing the sole of shoes back on were other tricks parents have had to go with. Some parents owned up to using hair straighteners to 'iron' clothes in a rush while others have resorted to giving uniform and PE kit a spray with deodorant over washing them. Dawn Porto, from Clarks, which has reduced their prices to the lowest on the back-to-school range in a decade, said: 'We've all had those chaotic moments - when you realise too late that something's missing or left at home. 'Mornings are stressful enough without the added worry of worn-out shoes or a last-minute dash to fix uniform mishaps. 'It's so important to ensure you're buying durable and scuff-resistant items, some even designed to go from classroom to PE without needing a change.' Another tactic was sending kids to schools in clothes getting a little small - due to being tantalisingly close to the summer holidays. On the flip side, 22 per cent of parents admitted to buying school uniforms and footwear so big for kids - in the hope they'll last the entire year. The research, carried out via OnePoll, also revealed the pressure parents feel to keep a child's uniform and shoes pristine all year round, with 60 per cent feeling the heat to do so. It also emerged when it comes to decision-making, 64 per cent take the lead on choosing school uniform and footwear, though 15 per cent admit their children usually have the final say at the till. With the new term looming, mornings can be a source of stress with 61 per cent confessing they don't notice issues with their child's uniform until the very last minute, often in the middle of a rushed school run. UK state school in one of London's poorest boroughs outperforms ETON with 250 straight As on A Level results day With 25 per cent admitting that their kids have gotten into trouble for not having their PE kit. Dawn Porto added: 'We know how much parents want to get it right. 'They put a lot of pressure on themselves to keep their children looking smart and feeling confident at school. 'Which is why lasting quality and durability being so important in what you buy for the kids as you need things to be designed to keep up with busy school days.' THE TOP 20 MOST COMMON UNIFORM FIXES: 1. Wiped off dirt/marks off shoes with wet wipes / wet cloth 2. Wiped down muddy shoes with a baby wipe 3. Wiped off dirt/marks off uniform with wet wipes / wet cloth 4. Bought clothes that are too big to make sure they lasted the year 5. Used a hairdryer to dry damp uniform 6. Used a safety pin to temporarily fix zips 7. Sent them in with creased shirts 8. Sent them in wearing an older sibling's uniform 9. Bought shoes that are too big to make sure they lasted the year 10. Used a lint roller to refresh appearance 11. Safety pinned rips in skirt/trousers/shirts 12. Sent them in with odd socks 13. Coloured in scuffed school shoes (with a permanent marker, felt-tip pen) 14. Glued a school bag back together or the sole of a shoe back on 15. Sprayed deodorant on school uniform/ PE kit rather than washing it 16. Sent them in wearing an older sibling's shoes 17. Sent them in with missing buttons 18. Let them wear uniform that's too small 19. Cut out labels of hand-me-downs 20. Used hair straighteners to 'iron' uniform
TTG
2 hours ago
- TTG
Why agents need to pitch a night in the South African bush to clients
To continue reading this article you must log in. If you've never set a password you may need to register for free here and get unlimited access. For assistance contact support@
