DINERS were evacuated from a North Yorkshire restaurant when fire completely gutted its kitchens.

Staff at Pinocchio's Pizzeria, Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, raised the alarm after smoke was seen emerging from ducting in the kitchen at around 6.30pm yesterday(wed).

Some seven tables full of diners were evacuated in an orderly fashion and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue tackled the blaze.

Sub Officer David Graham, of Harrogate Fire Station, said: "The kitchen was seriously damaged by the fire which started in ducting on the ground floor.

"The first floor room above, used for preparation, was also severely damaged by fire.

"We had the fire under control in half an hour but there were still small pockets of fire which required some cutting away of ceilings and beams to get to the hot spots. "

He said Pinocchio's was a very old building and it was made safe but structural engineers would be surveying it today.