About 60 firefighters tackled a fire which broke out at a butcher's shop in Ilford in the early hours this morning.

The Brigade was called to the end-of-terrace shop with flats above it in Ilford Lane just after 3.15am today - July 22 - and the fire was under control by 5am.

The cause of the fire - which saw half of the ground floor of the building alight - is under investigation.

Ilford Recorder: Firefighters tackled a blaze which broke out in a butcher's shop in IlordFirefighters tackled a blaze which broke out in a butcher's shop in Ilord (Image: London Fire Brigade)

Crews rescued pet guinea pigs from a flat above the shop, and one person left the building before the Brigade arrived.

There are currently no reports of any injuries.

Station Commander Dean Wilkinson, who was at the scene, said: "The fire affected the right hand side of an end-of-terrace shop.

"One of our 32-metre turntable ladders was used at the scene as an observation tower, providing an aerial view of the incident and helping incident commanders to develop tactics to bring the fire under control."

The London FIre Brigade's 999 control officers took 10 calls to the blaze.

Crews from Barking, Stratford, Plaistow, Ilford and surrounding fire stations attended the scene with eight engines.