Investigators are working to establish the cause of a large fire in the upper floors of a Harrow-on-the-Hill pub yesterday.

More than 30 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze at The Castle pub, in West Street, which started at 4.30pm.

Thirty five customers and eight members of staff were evacuated from the premises before the fire brigade arrived.

No-one was injured, though one member of staff was treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire badly damaged the second floor living area of the three-storey building, but crews managed to stop the blaze spreading to the pub downstairs.

Six fire engines and 35 firefighters and officers from Harrow, Wembley, Northolt and Southall attended the blaze, which took almost two hours to fully extinguish.

Harrow Fire Station manager Simon Tuhill praised his crews for their work in what he said were very difficult conditions.

He said: “Crews worked really hard in hot and very challenging conditions to bring this fire under control.

“Thanks to their efforts the fire was confined to the second floor and didn’t spread into the main pub area on the ground floor. The fact that the fire doors upstairs were closed also helped to stop the fire from spreading any further.”