Five people had to be rescued by fire crews after a fire which broke out in a restaurant quickly spread to flats above it.

The fire at the Steak and Cherry restaurant in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street is believed to have started in the kitchen area of the premises at around 11.00pm last Tuesday (8 February). It quickly spread to the upper floors and roof space of the tenement style property.

A spokesperson for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said: “Due to the construction of these property types, hidden fire spread via enclosed voids and spaces are notoriously difficult and dangerous for crews to tackle.”

The fire spread rapidly through voids in the building [Photos: Strathclyde Fire and Rescue]

On arrival, firefighters had to deal with the original fire, its spread to the upper floors and a family trapped by the smoke in their top floor flat. Two men, two women and a child were taken to hospital for precautionary checks while firefighters and police searched and cleared adjacent flats.

Crews tackled the blaze using high volume water jets from two aerial rescue pumps, and with hand held hose lines inside the building. The fire was under control by around 8.00 am the following day.

A joint investigation into the fire has been launched.