An investigation has been launched after a huge blaze engulfed a spa in Ipswich in the early hours of Friday morning.

A total of 17 fire engines were called to tackle a fire at the Riverhills Health Club & Spa in Bramford at around 12.20am.

Dramatic pictures show flames ripping through the building and destroying the roof as plumes of smoke poured into the sky.

Two firefighters were pictured standing close to a hot tub as they battled to extinguish the blaze.

A number of nearby roads were closed as motorists were warned to avoid the area.

The roads have now reopened but crews remain on the scene, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said.

Providing an update, incident commander, group manager Sally Hammond said: “We were called to a serious fire at Riverhills Spa at about 12.20am last night.

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“Crews were here very quickly and established that there was a very serious fire that had occurred in the swimming pool area of the building.

“The crews worked really hard and really quickly in order to save the main part of the building, which we did.

“In the morning there will be a full and thorough investigation as to the cause of this fire.”

Police and ambulance services were also dispatched to the scene.

The spa has posted an announcement on Facebook that it will be closed on Friday.

It said: “You may have already seen on local news that very sadly there has been a large fire at the club overnight.

“As a result Riverhills will be closed today (Friday 23 June) to all members and guests while we gain access to the building and assess the damage.

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“We will of course update you once we have further information but please understand that we currently have no phone systems or internet access on site.

“We are extremely grateful to the work of Suffolk Fire and Rescue and the other emergency teams that responded to this incident and brought the fire under control.”

The spa also thanked customers for their understanding and said it would provide a further update as soon as possible.

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