Firefighters were called to a blaze that broke out at a Chinese restaurant in High Street, Halstead, this afternoon.
Essex Fire and Rescue was alerted at 4.30pm and sent nine fire engines.
Upon arrival, the crews found the restaurant completely smoke-logged and 50% alight.
Police officers closed the lower part of the High street while crews were tackling the flames, which had been brought under control shortly after 6.30pm.
The flames were extinguished by 6.51pm, with firefighters remaining at the scene to carry out safety checks.
Assistant divisional officer Paul Gardner, incident commander, said: “At this stage, we believe the fire started after a chip pan caught alight.
“This was a large incident and crews did exceptionally well in preventing this fire from spreading to neighbouring properties.
“The majority of the restaurant has been saved and is repairable.”
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