CUSTOMERS and staff fled as a blaze ripped through a Waltham Abbey pub.

Five crews of firefighters were called to The Volunteer, on the junction of Woodridden Hill and Honey Lane on Saturday shortly before 5pm.

On arrival they discovered the first floor of the building was well alight.

Police closed Junction 26 of the M25 as well as the road from the Wake Arms roundabout down through Woodridden Hill and Honey Lane for an hour as crews, including an aerial platform battled the fire.

The officer in charge, Station Officer Dave Barnard decided to call in another three units after the fire spread to the second floor loft.

After stripping roof tiles to get at the blaze, the fire was eventually put out shortly before 7pm.

The Volunteer is part of the McMullen & Sons brewery chain, which owns several pubs in the area including the Angel in Sun Street.Heydon Mizon, McMullen operations manager said that about 16 customers were evacuated from the building.

He said: “We do not know too much about how it started, we think it may have started outside, possibly on the flat roof, but we’re still waiting for the investigation to be concluded.”

“There is damage to the roof and the water used by the fire did some damage too so we’re closed for the moment, but we could be trading back again in two weeks.

“Luckily it was a fairly quiet time of the week, so there weren’t too many customers”