NEIGHBOURS escaped unharmed from devastating house fire in the early hours today.

The fire in Mortimer destroyed the garage - where it started at around 2am - and also damaged the house and neighboring property.

A family inside the house in The Crescent managed to escape without injury, as did the elderly couple living next door.

Crews from Reading's Whitley Wood, Caversham Road, Dee Road and Wokingham Road fire stations joined colleagues from Tadley at the scene and spent around three hours tackling the fire.

An investigation is being carried out to find out what caused the blaze.