A family have had to move out of their Weston-under-Penyard home, after a fierce blaze destroyed the building's roof and much of the upper floor.

Two crews from Ross Fire Station arrived at the house, which stands near the Weston Cross pub, shortly before 6am on Thursday July 22nd. The residents had discovered the fire, which is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault, and had made their way out of the house before alerting the emergency services.

The Ross fire crews found a major fire on the second floor and in the roof space, and realised extra pumps would be needed. They were soon joined by two appliances from Cinderford (from Gloucester Fire and Rescue Service) and a Restricted Access Vehicle from Whitchurch, and with eight firefighters using breathing apparatus and one main jet, the fire was brought under control by around 8.30am.

Incident Commander Neil Fowler, Watch Manager at Ross Fire Station, said that firecrew had had to work in the roof space itself, to try to confine the fire to the upper level of the house. He said that because the house is made of old timber and lath and plaster, the whole building could easily have been destroyed.

He added that the firefighters who had been working in the building were dehydrated and exhausted because of the heat. At about nine o'clock, they were relieved by new crews, who continued stripping away materials and property damaged by the fire. After a break, most of the retained firefighters would be returning to their usual work.

One of these was Neil Chaplain, who runs an electrical wholesaler in Whitchurch, and only recently joined the service as a retained officer. He told the Ross Gazette that it was not the first serious fire he had attended, but that this one was particularly bad.Neil Fowler added that the first hour in the roof was "one of the worst I have had for a long time".

Station Manager Martin Lown said: "This was a serious fire, but thanks to the early assessment by the crews from Ross, we had the resources we needed, and were able to confine the fire to the roof space. The support from Gloucester Fire and Rescue was also invaluable."

There were patches of severe road congestion in the local area while the emergency services dealt with the blaze.