More than 75 firefighters from across Hampshire tackled the blaze at 7 Bone Burger restaurant on Portswood High Street in Southampton Friday evening

HIWFRS received the call shortly before 7.30pm, firefighters from St Mary’s, Hightown, Redbridge, Eastleigh, Winchester, Hamble and Fareham were in attendance after the fire took hold and rapidly spread.

Crews used hoses reels and high pressure jet hoses along with two aerial ladder platforms to tackle the fire from above, Fourteen fire appliances and additional specialist vehicles were involved at the height of the incident.

Relief crews have been organised to take over from those firefighters who were first on the scene.

The roof of the restaurant collapsed whilst firefighters tackled the blaze and fire crews are set to work throughout the night to prevent the fire from flaring up again.

The incident has since been scaled down with five fire engines set to remain overnight to monitor for hotspots and dampen down remains.

Police have closed off Portswood High Street which will remain closed until later today, fire investigation officers will be attending the scene and carry out an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Incident Commander Rob Cole said:

“Our teams worked incredibly hard in hot conditions to aggressively fight the fire and prevent it from spreading to the adjoining premises.

“Throughout the incident we worked closely with our Hampshire Constabulary colleagues who closed off the surrounding roads.

“I’d like to thank the local businesses who provided our crews with refreshments throughout the incident on a humid evening.”