AN investigation will get under way today into a fire that left two picturesque thatched cottages badly damaged.Forty firefighters from across Essex and Suffolk tackled the blaze last night in Gestingthorpe, between Halstead and Sudbury for almost three hours before bringing it under control.
AN investigation will get under way today into a fire that left two picturesque thatched cottages badly damaged.
Forty firefighters from across Essex and Suffolk tackled the blaze last night in Gestingthorpe, between Halstead and Sudbury for almost three hours before bringing it under control.
Essex fire service said it was being treated as a suspicious blaze and a joint investigation with Essex Police would begin today.
Crews were called at about 6.40pm yesterday after the thatched roof of a cottage in Church Street caught fire.
It spread to the roof of the adjoining thatched cottage as 40 firefighters from Halstead, Sudbury, Clare, Long Melford, Braintree, Wethersfield, Colchester and Brentwood were drafted in to tackle the blaze.
Residents watched on as flames leapt from the thatched roofs and firefighters set about bringing it under control.
Essex fire service said the blaze had been brought under control by 9.20pm, but fire crews would remain at the scene damping down into the night.
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