A thatched cottage in Essex has been saved from severe damage, after fire crews extinguished a blaze that began in its flue accessories.

The fire spread from the cottage's chimney to its roof, where fire fighters had to remove thatch from the impacted areas using their own hands, according to the BBC Essex website.

John Harris, a station officer who was at the scene, told the website: "It is difficult, labour intensive work but crews worked really hard and we had quickly stripped the roof away and prevented the spread of the fire."

This news follows a similar incident in Hampshire earlier this month, when a family escaped from a house fire that is believed to have started in a chimney, according to the Salisbury Journal.

A fire official told the website that the incident was the second time the building has been affected by fire in the last three years.