Brighton: Fire crews tackle blaze at council building

The blaze started in a planter outside an Italian restaurant opposite Brighton Town Hall. The restaurant is on the ground floor of Bartholomew House, the city council's customer service centre.

A witness at the scene said council employees “frantically” tried to tackle the fire to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the building as they waited for firefighters to arrive.

One man was seen using a fire extinguisher to try and put out the flames while the emergency services were on their way.

Smoke was pouring from the planter and the fire left the glass screens round the area cracked and blackened.

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A spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue said: “At 4.05pm on Friday, June 9, we were called to attend Bartholomew Square, Brighton, to a small fire in an outside planter.

“No casualties were reported and a hosereel was used to put the fire out.”