Flames ripped through a house in Queen’s Road in the early hours of this morning, causing heavy damage.

Firefighters were called to the property, near the junction with St John’s Road, at 2.35am.

They found the ground floor of the multiple occupancy house “well alight” and immediately forced their way in to look for its tenants.

The house, however, was unoccupied and nobody was hurt.

Crew Commander Greg Bescoby said: “It was quite a severe fire when we arrived. It took us about 45 minutes to bring it under control and make sure there was nobody inside.”

Specialist police and fire investigation teams are currently at the scene.