Man charged with arson after fire at Seventy One Indian restaurant in Poulton-le-Fylde

Officers were called by colleagues from the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service to the 71 Indian Cuisine restaurant on Breck Road at 4.27am on Sunday, December 8 to a report of a fire.

It was extinguished by the fire service and several people had to be led to safety from a premises above the restaurant.

On Monday, a 36-year-old man was arrested in Blackpool.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, Fakhrul Islam, 36, of Hemingway, Blackpool, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

He has been remanded to appear before Lancaster Magistrates Court today.

Sunday morning’s fire saw brave staff from the Cube, a bar a few doors down from Indian restaurant Seventy One, bravely save a family with a baby’s life.

Cube staff member Jaylee Spruce, 19, was outside the venue having a vape when the sound of an alarm caught his attention across the road.

“I looked around and flames were bursting out of the building. It was unreal,” said Jay, who alerted his colleagues inside the club.

Jay then swiftly returned to the street with Josh Rodgers, 21, and bar manager George, as the brave trio rushed to the rescue of a family sleeping in the flat above the burning restaurant.

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Jay said: “Josh and George are both ex-military, so they didn’t think twice. They ran over to the fire with me and started breaking down the doors to get them out.

“They smashed the door down and ran upstairs to raise the alarm. The people inside the flat - there were seven of them - they didn’t have a clue what was going on.

“They had a baby with them and didn’t realise how serious the fire was downstairs. We just kept shouting, “Get out! Get out! You need to get out NOW!”

Thanks to their courage and quick-thinking, Jay, Josh and George managed to get everyone out safely and avoid a Christmas tragedy.