Fire crews battled a blaze in the roof of a house earlier this afternoon.

Four fire engines and twenty firemen took half an hour to bring the fire, in a building in Coleridge Road, North Finchley, under control.

The roof collapsed and there was severe water damage to the first floor.

However a team from Finchley Fire Station, which arrived at the scene within five minutes of receiving the call at 3.30pm, made sure the fire did not spread to the rest of the house.

Barnet fire station's station manager Peter Wolfenden said: “There’s very little smoke damage to the first floor.

“The fire spread very rapidly, but the team arrived in time to stop it reaching the neighbouring houses or burning through the joists.

“They worked very hard to put water on the blaze to make sure it did not leave the roof void.”

Station manager for London Fire Brigade Thomas Goodall said there had been nobody inside the house at the time of the fire, and everyone had been accounted for.

He added investigators were currently trying to discover the source of the fire.

He said: “Roof fires like this are not uncommon.”

Residents were kept inside their houses and the road was closed off as fire fighters brought the blaze under control.

A neighbour who was alerted to the fire by a knock at the door said other residents on the street had called the fire brigade, praising them for their rapid response which stopped the fire spreading.

Another neighbour, who lives next door, said he had been oblivious to the fire.

He added: “I was inside listening to the radio, I didn’t find out until a few minutes ago. I’m very glad they kept the fire under one roof.”

Members of the Plymouth Christian Brethren from Mays Lane in Barnet came down with bottles of water and food parcels to give to the fire fighters.

Murray Walton, of the church’s rapid response team, said: “We have an agreement with the fire brigade and other services to provide aid in situations like this.

“I heard about the fire and dropped everything and got here as quickly as I could.

“We see it as our Christian duty to help the emergency services and provide accommodation and food for people who are turned out of their houses because of a fire.”