AN AWARD-WINNING restaurant in Reading will be open for business as usual despite a blaze breaking out in the cellar this morning.

Firefighters were called to celebrity chef Paul Clerehugh’s restaurant, The London Street Brasserie, at around 5.45am after a blaze broke out in the basement.

Crews from Caversham Road and Wokingham Road fire stations used breathing apparatus and a hose reel to douse the flames before using a ventilation fan to clear the smoke from the building.

It is believed the fire started because of an electrical fault in one of the freezers, but a spokesman for Mr Clerehugh stressed the restaurant will open as normal from midday today.

She said: “Everything is fine. It was a very small fire in the cellar.

“It’s a bit frantic at the moment because we are getting it cleaned up, but we will be open as normal from midday.”

The restaurant, which opened in 2000, is the second award-winning restaurant owned by the well-known chef who has appeared on the BBC and famously served up bangers and mash at Kate Winslet’s wedding in 1997.