Two people escaped safely after a fire broke out at a shop on the ground floor of a hotel in the Yermasoyia area of Limassol in the early hours of Friday, the fire service said.

The fire service received a call at 3.53am and the Ayios Nikolaos fire station responded with two fire engines. The blaze was brought under control by 4.15am.

Firefighters helped one person to safely leave the premises, while a second had already left the shop before emergency crews arrived.

The fire and resulting heat caused damage to the contents of the shop, as well as part of the interior wall paintwork.

The cause of the fire is under investigation in cooperation with the relevant authorities.

The fire service also said it responded to 40 calls for assistance between 6am on Thursday and 6am on Friday. Of these, 15 involved fires, 19 were special assistance calls and six were false alarms.