Staff and customers were evacuated after fire broke out in a

Bristol pub.

Up to 25 firefighters from Temple and Bedminster stations

tackled the blaze at the Greenhouse on Park Street, smashing

windows to let heat out and vent the four-storey building.

No one was injured in the fire but much of the building,

including the kitchen, cellar, and offices and flats above the

pub were badly damaged by smoke.

The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation, but

it is thought to have started near a fire exit and taken hold

in the pub's wall and floor cavities.

The fire started at about 3.30pm.

Park Street was cordoned off and closed to traffic for three

hours while fire officers brought the situation under

control

Nick Woodhouse, the Greenhouse's manager, was washing up in

the kitchen at the back of the basement when he first noticed

the smoke.

He said: "I could smell smoke downstairs in the kitchen and

the cellar. Before we have had smouldering cigarettes dropping

through the cellar hatch from outside, but this time it wasn't

that.

"As soon as I smelled the smoke I went around the cellar to

find the fire, but it wasn't there. The fire alarms went off,

and when I went upstairs I saw that the corridors were full of

smoke.

"It was obvious it was bigger than I first thought, and I

knew it was time for us to get out."

Upstairs, deputy manager Sarah Coates was in her flat on the

top floor of the building when the fire broke out.

She said: "I went on my break at 3pm and went up to my flat,

and I could smell smoke up there and burning plastic.

"I ran downstairs with my flatmate Doone.

"When we opened the door the corridor outside the toilets on

the pub's upper floor was full of smoke. We ran down to the pub

and started getting all the customers out."

While bar staff evacuated the dozen or so punters, Mr

Woodhouse raced back upstairs to save his two kittens, Annie

and Bella, from his flat on the third floor.

The 32-year-old said: "I am relieved I managed to get my

cats out as they are only 15 weeks old.

"Once I had them I went outside and watched my flat burn

down."

Mr Woodhouse said he thought the fire could have started

from a discarded cigarette butt.

He said: "I believe there were lots of people standing there

having a cigarette out of the wind.

"When the fire officers asked me to open the fire escape we

could see that the bottom of the door was charred and on

fire."

James Bladon, a spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue,

said:"Fire fighters had to rip plasterboard away from the walls

to get into the cavities to find any hot spots that might start

the fire again.

"We are not yet sure what caused the fire."

The Greenhouse is owned by Tattershall Castle Group, which

manages more than 150 pubs and bar restaurants across the

UK.

Bristol area manager Chris Teague said: "The pub is

certainly going to be closed for the near future, and we will

have to get our assessors in to establish the extent of the

damage.

"It is not going to be open again next week, but we are just

pleased that everyone inside got out safely."