FIVE crews of firefighters tackled a blaze in Wickford on Sunday (18 April) afternoon that spread to a number of outbuildings.

The alarm was raised at 5.42pm and on arrival at Arundel Road firefighters reported that six timber-framed outbuildings in multiple gardens were on fire.

Incident Commander Marc Diggory said: "Crews worked extremely hard to contain the fire and stop it from spreading further.

"Access was difficult but firefighters extinguished the fire by 7.45pm.

"Our firefighters will stay at the scene for a while longer as they continue to dampen down the area."

Officers will carry out an investigation into the cause of the fire, though initially there was no reason to believe it was deliberate.