Hope for Devon pub destroyed by fire

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE) has pledged to rebuild a historic Devon pub that was reduced to rubble after a fire on Christmas Eve.

The George Hotel in the market town of Hatherleigh, Devon, dated from around 1450 and boasted a number of original features including a thatched roof, stone fireplaces and oak-panelled walls.

The fire started at around 8pm on December 23. By the early hours of Christmas Eve the pub was completely destroyed, with only a few sections of its exterior walls left standing. A police investigation is under way to establish the cause of the fire.

A spokeswoman for S&NPE said the pub company had been "incredibly overawed" upon hearing that the pub had been lost.

The pubco is now in consultations with English Heritage and plans to restore the pub to its former glory. She added that S&NPE had been contacted by well-wishers from around the world.

Work is being undertaken to use as much of the original fabric of the building as possible.

A statement from the pubco said: "We are at the start of a very long process to assess the extent of the rebuild of the George and we are very much being guided by English Heritage.

"A local archaeologist and design team have just been appointed and eventually their findings will be reported back to English Heritage. It will be some time before we are able to update this situation any further.

"The George Hotel was an important landmark. It was a unique heritage site and one of the area's oldest buildings. This is a great loss to us and to the local community."

Geoff Hodgkinson, who lives just outside the village, was at the scene taking photographs as the pub burnt down. "The pub was the heart of the town," he said. "People are going through a bereavement process… we're passionate about getting the pub back."