A newspaper delivery man from Weston has told of the moment he saw flames through a hotel window in Axbridge and rushed in to put them out.

Josh King, 22, was delivering papers to the Co-Op opposite The Oakhouse Hotel at around 1.30am yesterday (Saturday) when he saw the fire.

He told the Weston Mercury: “I was just driving up and saw flames in the window.

“It looked like it was going to spread as there were lots of curtains and padding.

“I went in and found a fire extinguisher on the wall, and put it out.

“It’s lucky I did because it was already up to the rafters, the fire brigade ended up pulling all the plasterboard off.

“The room was full of smoke. I didn’t really think about it, I just got on with it.

“After that the fire fighters took my details and I just carried on with the rest of my shift.”

The fire crews Cheddar and Burnham-on-Sea arrived at the scene around five minutes after Josh extinguished the flames.

They had been called by a resident at the hotel who had heard alarms sounding in the building.

READ MORE: Passerby stopped fire in Axbridge hotel from turning into disaster

When the fire crew from Cheddar arrived at the scene, they entered the property wearing breathing apparatus and managed to exitinguish the rest of the fire using a hose reel jet.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire, in the bar area, was caused by an unattended candle which ignited a picture frame and artificial flowers.

The spokesman said: “The fire was extinguished using a fire extinguisher, one hose reel jet, thermal imaging camera, two breathing apparatus and small tools.

“The property was ventilated using two positive pressure ventilation fans.

“The cause of the fire was accidental and duty of care was left with on site management.”

The Oakhouse Hotel did not want to comment on the fire when asked, but issued a message on Facebook to its followers.

The statement read: “We are feeling incredibly thankful today! In the early hours of this morning we suffered a fire in the reception area of the hotel.

“However thanks to the quick thinking of our colleague Simon from The Lamb and our amazing team and of course Cheddar and Burnham fire stations the damage was limited.

“We are also thankful that all of our systems and procedure that we train with worked and the hotel was evacuated without incident and our guests well looked after.

“Mostly however I am amazed and in awe of our amazing team who have accomplished the impossible and have the hotel, if a little battered and bruised ready to receive guests again this lunchtime.

“My family and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have all done.”