Fire badly damages Canvey Island yeshiva

"Firefighters were also working with the Jewish Community to safely salvage items from the building. The whole building has suffered significant fire damage," a fire brigade spokesperson said.

"Firefighters will carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the fire."

Joel Friedman, who leads the Charedi community on Canvey Island, said the fire may have been caused by "candles put on to celebrate the Chanukah, but we are not 100 per cent sure, which were either misplaced or fell down".

There were no injuries but it was reported Torah scrolls and prayer books were destroyed.

Yeshiva World reported that the students were at the home of the dean at the time of the fire and that tefillin was also among the items that were destroyed.