A CEMETERY in Hillingdon has been forced to close this morning (Wednesday) as staff clean up following a fire in the early hours.

Six fire engines from around the borough were called to Hillingdon and Uxbridge Cemetery, in Hillingdon Hill, Hillingdon, at 2am.

A Grade II listed chapel was alight and the road outside had to be closed for two hours while firefighters battled the flames.

The road reopened at 4.30am but the chapel, which was used for storage, and the rest of the site remains closed.

Christmas Eve is traditionally one of the busiest times at the cemetery as residents visit the graves of loved ones ahead of the festive season.

Hillingdon Council hopes to have the site reopen by around lunchtime when work to make it safe will hopefully have been completed.