HOPES of a Christmas opening for a popular pub in Warley have been thrown into serious doubt after a fire destroyed its roof at the weekend.

Part of the first floor of the Horse and Groom pub, Warley Road, was also damaged on Sunday.

The pub has been undergoing renovation work since June, and it was building work set off the blaze shortly after midday.

It’s not now known when the pub will open until the extent of the damage has been fully assessed. Brentwood First councillor, William Lloyd, lives around the corner from the pub and saw events unfold.

He said: “It’s really disappointing for the area because the owners were hoping for a Christmas opening. The place has gone through so many different owners, people were really looking forward to having a real local pub again.

“I hope this doesn’t put the owners off.”

He added: “I went down to have a closer look and the fire was sweeping across the whole roof of the pub. A couple of the chimneys were lost and they fell down.

“The fire was a small to begin with but then it just erupted. The fire crews done a great job to put it out.”

More than 30 firefighters attended, with crews needing eight main jets to tackle it in all. It took more than two hours to get it under control.

An neighbouring home, attached to the pub, was saved after quick-thinking crews dosed it in water to keep flames away.

Incident Commander Sean Doulton said: “The pub is under conversion and builders had been working on site. The fire had broken out in the roof and spread to the first floor of the building. “The first class work carried out by the crews contained the fire to the pub and prevented it from spreading to the semi-detached house.”