Pub fire closes village high street

Firefighters tackling the blaze on Thursday evening

A "raging inferno" in a village pub has closed a high street.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue crews have been tackling the blaze at the Gribble Inn in Oving, near Chichester, which broke out at about 18:30 GMT on Thursday.

Ten fire engines were deployed to the scene in Gribble Lane after the thatched roof of the pub caught fire.

A chef at the pub said the building had "pretty much gone" and looked "like a shell".

Greg Hughes, a sous chef at the Gribble Inn, added: "A small fire started on the thatched roof near the chimney stack.

"Despite the efforts of the fire services it caught and turned into a raging inferno and the pub went up.

"I'm a bit gutted."

Inside the fire-damaged pub

A spokesperson for the fire service said crews had been "working hard throughout the night and the fire is now under control", but urged members of the public to avoid the area.

"Our resources have been scaled down and the remaining firefighters at the scene continue to dampen down hotspots," the spokesperson added.

Peter Hague, who converted the listed building into a pub 45 years ago, said: "I am more than gutted.

"If we ever build it again it will not have thatch.

"All the beams are burnt and the wet thatch is in a heap."

The aftermath of the fire

Mike Holdaway, who lives in Oving, said: "We saw the smoke and smelt it and the chimney was on fire. It just went from there."

His wife Janie added: "It happened 10 years ago in June 2014. It was built up and the pub was thriving but now we're back to square one.

"It's going to take a while if it's going to be rebuilt. It's such a shame."