A gym was evacuated after fire spread from its sauna to its roof.

Fire tore through the David Lloyd Gym in Chigwell on Thursday night.

Essex Fire and Rescue service confirmed was called to the gym in Roding Lane at 5.38pm where they found a blaze within the gym’s sauna.

The fire within the sauna was put out by firefighters by 6.08pm, but it had already spread quickly to the building’s roof area.

Crews from Harlow, Waltham Abbey and Loughton fought to get the flames under control and stop it spreading further.

At 11pm on Thursday evening much of the building’s roof remained alight.

Firefighters left the scene at around 3am and revisited later in the morning to ensure it was still safe.

A statement released by David Lloyd said: “We can confirm that all members and team were safely evacuated from our Chigwell club this evening after the fire alarm sounded.

“The emergency services are in attendance at the club, which is currently closed.

“The health and safety of our members and team is always our number one priority.”

In a post on the David Lloyd Chigwell Facebook page on Friday morning the company added: “We’re pleased to let you know that we will be partially reopening from 4pm today.

"The gym will be fully open and we will be offering a limited DLicious menu in our club room however all changing areas showers and other facilities will remain closed for now."