Suffolk Fire and Rescue will return to The Ship Inn pub in Levington today to begin investigation work after a huge fire destroyed the pub’s thatched roof on Tuesday morning.

At its height 14 fire appliances from across the region were on site to help tackle the blaze with 45 firefighters involved in putting the fire out.

Crews were called to the pub on Church Lane at 9.30am on Tuesday morning to reports of a huge thatch fire.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue remained on the site for a number of hours, stripping the thatch from the roof and looking for hotspots within the building.

It’s not the first time that the pub has been hit by fire with previous blazes devastating the pub in 2001 and in the late 1980s.

The village of Levington has reacted with shock and sadness to the news of the latest fire.

David Long, the chairman of Levington and Stratton Hall Parish Council, said on Tuesday: Mr Long said: “Since we moved ere 20 years ago it’s caught fire once before which devastated the village. The community was very supporting and willing to encourage it’s rebuild because it is a listed building.

“We are very sad its happened again. I just hope Adnams will get on and refurbish it again.”

Nick Attfield, director of Adnams properties, said:“We know that it happened very quickly but all of our team got out safely which is the main thing.

“The results are truly devastating – for me it’s a property, but for these people it’s their jobs, their homes and a place where they love working.

“There will be lots of analysis over the day and the coming weeks about what happened so that we can put it back together.”