Firefighters have been praised for battling to control a fierce blaze that destroyed an outbuilding and severely damaged a thatched barn.

With 27 fire engines from Suffolk and two crews from Norfolk involved in tackling the blaze throughout the night, investigation work was under way today (Saturday) following the thatched house fire in Chediston, near Halesworth.

The fire crews battled for seven hours to contain the blaze. After being called out at 10.30pm last night, the fire was declared under control at 5.43am this morning (Saturday).

At its height, more than 20 fire crews battled the flames in cold conditions, as the fire was understood to have started in an outbuilding and spread to a thatched barn which is close to the B1123 road and is used as offices and storage space.

The outbuilding was completely destroyed in the blaze, with about 70pc of the roof of the main barn building lost in the fire.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service station commander Steve Rhind said: “We’ve been fighting a fire in a thatched property at Chediston all through the night. On arrival there was a well-developed fire in an outhouse, which caught into the thatch of the main property.

“From there crews battled through the night to control the thatched fire. At its height more than 20 crews rotated through the premises. It was a thatched property so crews fought valiantly off ladders internally to fight the fire and remove the thatch as quickly as possible.

“It was hard work and the crews did a great job. A fire investigation team is in attendance to determine the cause of this fire.”

There was no one was in the building at the time of the blaze. With police attending to close the road last night as the outbuilding had collapsed into the road, the B1123 road remained closed today.