A fire was averted at an aquatic centre after a "bursting fish tank" helped stop the spread of flames from a suspected electrical blaze.

The fire is believed to have started at the Maidenhead Aquatics shop at Hawley Garden Centre in Sutton-at-Hone around 6pm on New Years Eve.

But surprised staff were unaware of the burgeoning blaze until after a review of the CCTV.

They returned to work today to find parts of the adjoining aquatics centre covered in soot and residue.

"It was an electrical issue behind the tank," suspects Jan East, director of the garden centre, who was not made aware of the incident until a day after.

"We don't quite know how it happened but it was New Years Eve," she said.

"Everything was switched off... but having looked at the CCTV they can't see how it started."

Jan added: "Our fire system told us what zone it is in. We have had all the windows open for airflow."

Upon reviewing the CCTV the garden centre boss said a tank had burst but this had actually managed to douse some of the flames and although it re-ignited, the blaze eventually ran its course.

Thankfully, only a couple of fish were lost as the small fire was largely restricted to a back section containing mostly empty tanks, she explained, saying if they had lost more it would have been "catastrophic".

Jan added: "One of the three days a year we are closed, it had to happen then."

Efforts are now being made to clean the shop and the affected area has been cordoned off.

Electricians are also on site to survey the damage and diagnose the source of the original fire.

The aquatic centre remains open, as permitted under Tier 4 restrictions, with cordons in place to allow for repairs to the affected areas.

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