Almost half of a Costa Coffee store in Bucks was damaged in a late-night fire as a man had to be evacuated from the three-story building, which 

Firefighters rushed to the High Street in Stony Stratford at around 2.30am on Thursday (June 23) to deal with the incident.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) officers put a cordon in place at the scene as three fire crews tackled the blaze which was well alight" when they arrived.

Firefighters remained at the premises through the night and into the morning.

A 57-year-old man from Stony Stratford was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life but has since been released with no further action.

A TVP spokesperson said: “Officers attended, a cordon and road closures were put in place which were gradually reduced until being removed.

“A 57-year-old man from Stony Stratford was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. He has been released with no further action.

“Following an investigation, the report is due to be filed pending further information coming to light.

“Anyone with information about the incident should call 101 or make a report on our website, quoting reference number 43220274726.”

A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “We can confirm that there was a fire in the early hours of June 23 within the vicinity of the Costa Coffee store in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes.

"The store, which is owned and operated by our franchise partner, SME Group PLC, was closed at the time with no-one inside.

"The store will remain closed until further notice and all Costa Coffee team members have been transferred to surrounding stores until the store can reopen.

"We are grateful to the local emergency services for their quick response.”

A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "The ground floor shop in a three-storey terrace of shops and residential flats, was well alight on their arrival.

"A scene cordon was put in place and managed by Thames Valley Police.

"The fire is believed to have started in a storage area.

"The firefighters isolated the electricity supply to the shop.

"They cut away some of the ground floor roof space to help extinguish the fire.

"The residential flats on the first and second floor were ventilated using positive pressure ventilation fan.

"The shop was 40 per cent damaged by fire, 40 per cent damaged by smoke and 40 per cent damaged by water."