NINE fire crews were sent to Braintree to tackle a fire that spread through a three-storey building.

The empty shop, thought to have previously been home to a pizza restaurant, was 100 per cent alight when crews arrived at 6.50pm.

Initially, crews from Braintree and Halstead attended the blaze, in Bank Street, but realising the extent of the blaze they called in back up from as far afield as Brentwood and Sible Hedingham.

The fire was extinguished by 9pm but crews remained on site until 10pm checking for hotspots.