The owner of a café has told of his shock after a fire broke out in the flat above his business, prompting residents to be evacuated.

St Alban Street in Weymouth was cordoned off on Sunday evening whilst firefighters tackled the blaze.

The fire, thought to have been started by a candle, took hold in one of the flats above Suttons coffee shop – the oldest coffee shop in Weymouth.

Luckily no-one was injured, but Suttons remained closed yesterday whilst the damage was assessed.

Matthew Mitchell, owner of Suttons coffee shop, said: “I had a phone call from my son who said that a fire had broke out above the shop. I must have got there at about 6.15pm. The street was all cordoned off and I was told that a mattress had caught fire.

“When I went into the coffee shop, there was water coming through the ceiling and it stank something horrible.

“I didn’t want to close the shop on Monday but we don’t have any power.

“We’re hoping to reopen as soon as possible, we’ve already had to turn people away today and cancel all of our orders.”

After firefighters had dealt with the fire, Mr Mitchell had to call them out again because one of the ceiling’s cables caught fire.

He said: “The fire brigade was fantastic, they were brilliant. They were talking to me through everything, saying ‘we’ve made this safe’ and ‘we’ve done this and that’.

“And when we had to call them out again, they were here in less than five minutes. We had noticed that one of the electrical cables was smouldering and crackling and you could see it catching fire.”

The incident comes 18 months after the coffee shop had a refit, which cost £30,000 and saw a new ceiling and air conditioning installed.

Mr Mitchell said he has concerns over the possibility of claiming money for the damage from his insurance provider.

He said he only recently put in a claim after three of the shop’s windows were damaged by yobs.

He added: “It really upsets me. We don’t need this.”

Suttons coffee shop was first opened in Weymouth in 1878. It has been run by the Mitchell family for nearly 50 years.

A spokesman for Weymouth Fire Station said firefighters used four breathing apparatus and two-hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.

He said: “All occupants vacated the property safely thanks to working smoke alarms.

“The fire caused damage to one bedroom and highlights the importance of keeping doors closed to stop the fire spreading. The door was not a fire door, but it was still able to prevent the fire spreading to the rest of the flat.”