Baby tortoise saved after fire in soft play centre

A baby tortoise has been found alive after a "significant" fire in a soft play centre.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to The Jungle Box on the Watermill Industrial Estate in Buntingford, at about 03:20 BST, on Wednesday.

It had previously said "a number of animals were inside the building at the time of the fire and did not survive".

It said it was a "small but powerful moment" and confirmed a fire investigation was "ongoing".

The soft play centre, which opened in June last year, recently created an exotic pets area that was home to meerkats, snakes, tortoises, iguanas, owls and genets, according to posts on social media.

East Hertfordshire Council said it was aware that animals were on the site.

It said it wrote to the company at the beginning of the month "to inform them of the need to apply for a licence".

It said it had "not received a response from them".

The fire service said: "While carrying out the fire investigation, we incredibly discovered a baby tortoise alive in the aftermath, despite earlier fears that all the animals had died.

"A small but powerful moment after a very difficult incident."

Darren Cook, assistant chief fire officer, said: "Crews worked hard to contain the fire and prevent it spreading to neighbouring units."

The service said at its height, 10 fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were at the scene but no one was injured or inside the building when it started.

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