Portsmouth crews respond to hotel blaze in Southsea

Firefighters were called just before 5pm to a fire involving the laundry room of a hotel on South Parade.

HIWFRS crews from Southsea, Cosham, Portchester, Havant and Fareham were quickly on the scene to tackle the ground-floor blaze.

Around 30 firefighters were in attendance, with Hampshire Constabulary partners assisting with traffic management.

The six-floor building was evacuated as HIWFRS tackled the fire using breathing apparatus, jets and hose reels, with ventilation fans in use to clear smoke.

The fire was contained to the ground-floor with some smoke spreading to other parts of the building.

Crews were gradually released with Southsea fire engines remaining on the scene until the stop message came in at 19:06.

One engine will return later in the evening to conduct a reinspection.