The Ship Inn at Cockwood collapses following heavy rain

The Ship Inn at Cockwood is closed until repair work can be carried out to the wall

The side of a family-run pub in Devon has collapsed following heavy rain on Saturday night.

The wall of the Ship Inn at Cockwood, near Dawlish, was said to have collapsed at about 11:30 GMT on Sunday.

The pub is made from cob, a traditional West Country building material, which is a mixture of mud and straw.

Anna Brown, partner at the pub, said it was "shocking" but the family intended for the pub to reopen as soon as possible after repairs.

Mrs Brown said: "We've been here since 2007, this is our family pub and the wall, basically, at about half 11 this morning, the wall behind the the bar fell out, fell down in towards the garden."

Staff from the pub said the collapse was "horrendous"

She said the cob wall had been surveyed by specialists on a number of occasions but the family was "never told it was dangerous".

The pub's chef lives above the pub and his lounge wall was part of the collapse.

"We are quite shocked. This is a family place, if we thought there was any imminent danger we would not have kept the pub open," Mrs Brown said.

"There were some staff in there [at the time of the collapse] but nobody was behind the bar.

"We cannot open the door until 12:00 so there were no members of the public inside.

"It feels horrendous, this is our family pub, this is our business."

The side wall covered the living areas in the flat above the pub and the bar in the downstairs of the pub.

The business has closed until remedial works can be done.

The family said they had been assured the wall could be repaired.

"We will be back and serving as soon as we possibly can," Mrs Brown added.