A party decorations shop has been forced to close after a fire gutted the building.

Balloons Are Taking Off went up in flames on Edinburgh's Gorgie Road shortly before 4am on Wednesday.

Three fire engines and a single height appliance were sent to the four-storey building with crews taking just under an hour to extinguish the ground-floor blaze.

Nearby properties were evacuated during the operation.

There have been no reports of any casualties.

A spokesperson for the shop said staff are "devastated" but will do their best to reopen as soon as possible.

On Facebook, they wrote: "By now I'm sure most of you are aware that we have had a fire in our shop in the early hours of this morning.

"We are unsure at the moment the amount of damage as we are not allowed into the shop until investigations have been carried out.

"We are obviously closed today and until further notice while we repair the damage to the shop but we hope to be back open very soon."

The shop's phone lines are currently down due to having no power.

Staff will not be taking any more orders at the moment, but will deliver anything already booked in.

The spokesperson added: "Thank you to everyone for your support through this difficult time.

"We are all devastated by this and will do our very best to be back open as soon as possible."

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman stated: "We were alerted at 3.56am on Wednesday, November 13 to reports of a fire within a business premises on Gorgie Road, Edinburgh.

"Operations control mobilised three fire appliances and one height appliance to the scene, where crews wearing breathing apparatus extinguished a fire within the ground-floor of a four-storey building.

"Adjacent properties were evacuated, and there were no reported casualties.

"Crews ventilated the building, and thereafter left the scene at 4.47am."