FIREFIGHTERS rushed to a country pub when fire broke out in a flat kitchen above the premises late on Saturday night (May 4).

Long-time licencees Phil and May Crawley were watching TV in their flat above the Royal Spring Inn in Vention Lane, Lydbrook, on their night off when they saw smoke.

May said: “Our son Peter was serving customers downstairs when Phil saw smoke which we thought it was coming from the microwave.

“People tried to extinguish it there, but we then realised it was pouring out of the airing cupboad, so we got everyone out of the pub and called the emergency services.

“It’s the immersion heater that has gone up in flames and our kitchen is a complete write-off. Part of the ceiling has gone in over the dartboard in the public bar as well.

“We lost all out Bank Holiday Sunday trade, but the main thing is no one was hurt and the damage could have been a lot worse.

“There were about 12 people drinking in the bar at the time, but everyone was very calm. We reopened for drinks on Bank Holiday Monday and were able to start doing food again on Tuesday.

“We’ve sealed off part of the public bar for safety and now we’re just waiting for the insurance people to come, so we can get everything repaired,” said May, who has run the pub with Phil for 29 years.

The alarm was raised around 10.20pm and fire crews from Cinderford and Coleford spent two hours extinguishing the blaze.

Gloucestershire Fire Service tweeted: “Retained crews from Cinderford and Coleford dealt with a commercial fire last night in Lydbrook. Amazing efforts by all crews involved as well as those in fire control.”

Emergency services are not treating the cause of the fire as suspicious.

Duty group manager for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Dave Benson, said: “On Saturday night we received a call to a fire at the Royal Spring Inn, Lydbrook, just before 10:30pm.

“Three crews from Cinderford and Coleford stations attended promptly and quickly extinguished a fire which is believed to have started in the kitchen area on the first floor.

“The property suffered damage from fire and smoke to both ground and first floors, however thankfully no one was injured.”