TWO people were said to have jumped from a first floor flat in Abergavenny while three people were rescued after a fire ripped through an Indian restaurant on Saturday.

Firefighters from across Gwent were called to Sundarbon Bengal Cuisine, on Monk Street, at 3.26am.

When they arrived, two people had already dropped themselves from a window landing on their feet, causing injuries requiring hospital treatment. One of those who jumped was treated for spinal damage, police said.

Three people were rescued by the fire service.

In total six Monk Street residents had to be found alternative accommodation that night by the council after the fire because they weren’t able to return, police said.

On Saturday afternoon fencing was put around the front of the restaurant and two shops next to it, the Divalution salon and The Jewellery Workshop.

A couple who live in a flat next to the three storey building were awoken by firefighters as they evacuated others surrounding it.

Jodie Berry and her boyfriend Aaron Corrigan were asleep above the Fonseca and Partners's offices when a fireman rung their doorbell and asked them to leave in case the fire spread to their property.

Ms Berry said she left in her dressing gown and socks and sat in a fire engine until she was taken to Abergavenny police station to keep warm.

She said: “I was woken up at about 3am by my buzzer going off. And then I saw a fire engine. A fireman said: ‘Can you get out? And I said yes. Then we saw [the restaurant] well ablaze.

“I am just grateful for the fact of being alive.”

They were only allowed back into their flat at about 1.30pm.

Monk Street remained closed and firefighters left the scene at 4pm.

The road was part open yesterday.

Investigations into what caused the fire are still underway.

The owner of Jacobi, an arts and crafts shop on Cross Street, Judith Williams said: “When I heard about it, I was a bit scared because it’s not beyond belief that it would’ve spread.”

A partner at Fonseca and Partners Richard Lovell said he had been contacted at about 7.15am by someone concerned that their building containing their offices and Ms Berry and Mr Corrigan's flat, which they rent from the firm, could have been damaged. But on arrival he found there had been no damage to their building.

A co-owner of The Optic Shop, Amy Powell, said several fire crews remained outside the building when she arrived at her shop at 9am and that crews with a crane left at about 1pm.

The restaurant’s owners were unavailable for comment. On their website, they say they have run it since 2001.

Firefighters from Abergavenny, Blaenavon, Ebbw Vale, New Inn, Brynmawr, Maindee, Aberbargoed, Tredegar, Cwmbran and Abersychan were called to deal with the blaze. It had been brought under control by 5.44am.

After hearing about the blaze Abergavenny residents clubbed together to find clothes and housing supplies for people affected.

After a call for donations on the Facebook group ‘Help the victims of the Monk Street fire’, generous local people sourced items including a bed, toaster, toiletries, clothes and dining plates to replace what may have been lost in the blaze.