TWO people escaped unharmed from a restaurant fire.

An investigation has been launched into the blaze at the Bells of St Mary’s on Mostyn Road, Gronant, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The fire, in the restaurant and bar area of the Crown Carveries-owned premises, took more than two hours to bring under control.

The two people who were inside the property were alerted by the fire alarm system and made their own way to safety.

An investigation officer has been appointed but the cause is not believed to be suspicious.

Firefighters from the Holywell, Flint, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Abergele and Colwyn Bay areas attended at 1.30am and found the building heavily smoke-logged.

Sections of the A548 were closed during the operation and the blaze was brought under control at 3.42am.

The restaurant was closed yesterday and no one from Crown Carveries was available for comment.

Elsewhere in the county, fire ripped through a roof space in a bungalow on Saturday night.

Four people fled the property, on Willow Lane, Pentre, uninjured when the blaze started just after 9pm.

The fire, described as severe, is believed to have been started accidentally.

Meanwhile, an area of woodland in Hawarden was deliberately set alight yesterday afternoon.

Crews tackled a blaze across more than 60 square metres of land on Tinkersdale woods after receiving a call just before 2pm.

And arsonists set fire to a garden shed on Aled Way, Saltney on Saturday night.

The shed was destroyed by the blaze, which started just after 9pm, and also damaged fencing.