RESIDENTS escaped unharmed after a blaze gutted a garage before tearing through a neighbouring roof last night.

Firefighters rushed to the scene shortly after 6.30pm following reports a fire had started in a garage before spreading to an adjacent property.

Crews spent more than two hours dousing the flames which completely destroyed the garage and caused significant damage to the roof.

Luckily however, residents inside the two properties in Wokingham Road, Earley, managed to escape the properties before alerting the emergency services.

A spokesman for Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to a house fire in Wokingham Road.

“It was a garage fire which spread to the roof of an adjacent property.

“There was 100 per cent fire damage to the garage and there was damage to the roof in the adjacent house.

“We sent four appliances and an aerial appliance.

“There were people inside at the time but they were all outside when we arrived.”

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined and will be probed by specialist fire investigators.