A restaurateur's laundry load of hot towels caught fire early today – for the second time in a few months.

Firefighters were called to reports of burning towels in a shed behind a restaurant on The Strand at 3.36am.

Towels caught fire in a restauranta laundry today. Photo: Supplied.

'It was a very small fire. It involved some towels that had been taken out of a dryer and placed in a box, and they ignited some time later,” says Tauranga Fire Brigade senior station officer Phil Price.

Fortunately it was spotted by a staff member, who put out most of the fire with the building hose reel.

'The shed was locked, it had a dryer, fridge and a few things in it. It was out the back of the restaurant,” says Phil.

'He (the staff member) put out most of the fire with a building hose reel, then unlocked the building and put out the rest of the fire, so we just had to make sure the fire was out.”

There was only superficial damage to the interior of the shed.

Phil says if the fire had not been spotted early, it could have been a totally different story had it been allowed to burn for a while.

It's the second time the restaurant towels have caught fire. Firefighters were told it also happened a few months ago.