A Los Angeles mansion belonging to British model and actress Cara Delevingne has been devastated by fire.

The 31-year-old was not there at the time, as she is currently starring in a stage performance on London’s West End.

Pictures show huge flames bellowing from the roof of the luxury home, and later, the blackened, smouldering ruins.

“My heart is broken”, Delevigne wrote on Instagram when she thought her two pet cats had died in the blaze.

“Life can change in the blink of an eye. So cherish what you have,” she said.

However, she later updated her 42 million followers with the good news that the cats had survived the blaze: “They are alive! Thank you to the firefighters,” she wrote.

Two people were injured in the fire, which engulfed the two-storey property in the hills of Studio City, north-west of Hollywood. A firefighter was taken to hospital in a stable condition, and a resident suffered minor smoke inhalation, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said.

Firefighters were called to the scene after a 911 call was made at approximately 04:00 local time (11:00GMT) on Friday.

Fire chiefs said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the blaze.

Delevingne thanked “from the bottom of my heart… all the firefighters and people that showed up to help”.

The actress, who made her stage debut this week as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at London’s Kit Kat Club, reportedly bought the house in 2019.

In a home tour for Architectural Digest in 2021, she described it as “one of my favourite places to be”, likening it to “an adult playhouse” and citing Hugh Hefner as an inspiration behind her choice of decoration. Inside, she had a “David Bowie shrine”, a ball pit and a collection of Japanese puzzle boxes.