A major fire at a pet store in Beccles last night (Wednesday) is set to be investigated by firefighters this morning.

Firefighters from Norfolk and Suffolk spent just over three hours battling the flames at Bartram’s pet food and garden store in New Market.

The fire was reported shortly after 10pm and a total of 10 fire engines were called to the scene.

The blaze had been put out and brought under control by 1.20am today (Thursday).

No-one was reportedly inside the building at the time of the fire but surrounding buildings were evacuated.

Police have said the incident is not suspicious.

Firefighters remained at the scene during the night and a brigade spokesman said a “fire investigation will be carried out in daylight hours."

Last night, witness Jonathan Wright, 22, a member of staff at The Swan House, which is opposite the pet store, said: “I was just about to leave work just after 10pm when I saw flames and a lot of smoke coming through the tiles of the roof at the pet store.

“It was very hard to see from opposite the road because of the smoke but no one was inside of the building at the time.

“It seems another pretty serious incident for the village. There was a lot of activity outside the building; you had (at least) five fire appliances, police and an ambulance.”