FIREFIGHTERS were called to a fire in a three-storey hotel in Clacton last night.

The Laxfield Hotel was heavily smoke-logged when crews from Clacton and Weeley arrived at 11.45pm.

Officers said the blaze was on the ground floor of the hotel, in Beach Road.

It took crews wearing breathing apparatus just over an hour to extinguish the fire, which was out by 12.50am.

No-one was in the building when the fire brigade arrived and there were no reported injuries.

Firefighters spent an hour damping down and ventilating the property.

A joint police and fire service investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the blaze.