A young family left their home shortly before it was engulfed by flames.

Fire quickly spread through the property above Londis in Charteris Road, Woodford Green, at 3.55pm on Sunday.

Vasudev Vaghela, who owns the flat and business downstairs, was alerted to the fire as he served a customer.

His wife and two children, a boy aged five and a girl of three, had left the property earlier to enjoy the sunshine in a nearby park.

Mr Vaghela said: "The main thing is my family are safe, that's the most important thing.

"I am so relieved they weren't inside."

"I went upstairs with the customer and found there was a lot of smoke coming from a toilet room, and I could see the flicker of flames.

"We evacuated the shop and called the fire brigade, but it spread very, very quickly.

"The fire engines kept coming, they did very well but they couldn't stop it from destroying the roof".

Around 35 fire-fighters and five fire engines extinguished the fire by 6.30pm, although surrounding roads were closed until 8.30pm.

No-one was injured.

At its height the blaze was so intense nearby homes had their water cut off so that fire-fighters had enough to tackle the flames.

The shop below the property was flooded by water from the fire crews' hoses, but was not damaged by the flames.

Mr Vaghela, who has owned the shop for two years, added: "It is very devastating, I'm still in shock and can't believe this has happened".

The cause of the fire is not known and the London Fire Brigade is investigating.

Mr Vaghela said he hoped insurance would cover the costs of repairs and that the shop would reopen "as soon as possible".