Firefighters helped guests to safety after a fire broke out at a Forest Gate hotel in the middle of the night.

Most people left the building in Romford Road when the smoke alarm went off in the early hours of this morning (Thursday, December 16) but ignored it and some stayed in their rooms, London Fire Brigade said.

After being called shortly after 2.30am, firefighters arrived at the scene to find most people had already evacuated and searched the building to check there were no guests still inside.

Crews found some had failed to leave their rooms despite the fire alarm sounding and assisted those remaining guests out of the building.

Sub officer Ian Robinson, who was at the scene, said: “Whenever you are staying away from home, be sure to familiarise yourself with the fire safety advice for the building you are staying at, in case there is an emergency.

“This incident happened in the middle of the night when most people are asleep.

“A smoke alarm sounding gives the earliest warning that there is a fire.

“Fortunately there were no injuries but this incident is a timely reminder to never ignore fire alarms or smoke alarms.

“It may be tempting to brush off alarms sounding as a false alarm, but it’s important that you treat every alarm as though it was a genuine incident".

A small part of a ground floor communal room was damaged by fire.

The incident was over soon after 3.30am.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Brigade and Met Police.