Fire crews spent more than two hours tackling a 'punishing' blaze in a church basement this morning.

Watch manager David Newton from Caversham Road station said they were called to Wesley Methodist Church at 6.30 this morning.

He said: "It was hard work and quite punishing for the crews. In the basement there's no vents so there's no where for the heat to go while the fire's still in the room. It was hard physical work.

"The fire is believed to be accidental however further investigations are ongoing."

Three fire appliances were called to the church and the fire was extinguished by firefighters using four breathing apparatus, hose reels and jets.

Watch manager Newton continued: "We received a hoax call earlier at about 10pm on Friday, December 11. These divert us from life threatening calls.

"We have to treat every hoax like it's a serious call."