Firefighters save thatched cottage in Wickhambrook after blaze breaks out

A thatched house in Wickhambrook was saved from being destroyed last night after firefighters worked for more than two hours to get a fire under control.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said 11 fire appliances were called to the house in Shop Hill, opposite the village primary school, after the alarm was raised shortly before 8pm.

Appliances were mobilised from Clare, Haverhill, Bury St Edmunds, Wickhambrook, Ixworth and Newmarket.

Firefighters used five breathing apparatus, four nine meter ladders, six hose reel jets and three thermal imaging cameras, plus chimney rods as they battled to prevent the fire spreading from the roof to the rest of the property.

Indications are that the fire started in the chimney.

The fire was successfully brought under control just before 10.15pm.