Fire gutted two floors of a flat after a blaze started above a parade of Chorleywood shops over the weekend.

Firefighters had to use aerial platforms to reach the flames which burnt through the roof of the apartment above a newsagents in New Parade on Saturday morning.

Six crews from stations including Rickmansworth, Watford, Garston, and St Albans all attended the scene after being called at around 7.30am.

The occupants of the flat escaped the blaze unharmed.

John Horastead, station commander at Watford Fire Station, said two fire engines initially attended the blaze but called for back-up when they saw the extend of the fire.

He said fire crews initially sprayed a jet hose through the front window of the burning flats while firefighters with breathing masks went in through the back to fight the blaze from inside.

“By then we realised it went through the roof through a sky light,” said Mr Horastead.

“Once we discovered that we called another appliance with an aerial ladder appliance. We had it under control by about 8.30pm.”

An investigation has since discovered the fire started in the hallway of the residential flats.

The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental.

Mr Horastead said the flat did not have smoke alarms and if the fire had been at night the fire could have had a more tragic outcome.

He added: “They didn’t have smoke alarms if they had been asleep when the fire started in the hall it would have been difficult to get out."