The fire service said the damage was contained to one floor
A fire has severely damaged the inside of a well-known Sikh temple in Leicester.
The blaze at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara in East Park Road was reported to the fire service at 11:15 GMT by a member of the public.
The fire service said the blaze was prevented from spreading beyond one floor and nobody was injured.
Between 200 and 300 people were evacuated from the building and the temple's holy book was moved to safety.
The presence of this book of scriptures, called the Guru Granth Sahib, gives a temple its religious status.
The cause of the fire is under investigation
Gurnam Singh, secretary of the temple, said: "The most important thing, our main precious thing we've got in the temple is our holy book, and with the assistance of the police and the fire brigade they managed to take the scriptures out of the building and obviously all the people were evacuated as well.
"Luckily there's no injuries to anyone, so we are really grateful for the police and the fire brigade for their support and the service they provided."
Mr Singh said what had happened was a "massive disappointment" and disturbance.
"It's really upsetting," he said.
"It's pretty difficult for the community, for the people who attend on a daily basis."
The temple is based in a former factory
