Pub tenants Ben Harding and Sarah Thomas fled for their lives when a fire broke out early today.

They were woken at 5.45am at the White House pub, Bladon, near Woodstock, by a crackling noise.

Sarah, 29, said: "We realised that the roof space was on fire. We rushed downstairs, rang the fire service, grabbed the dog and got out."

Thirty firefighters from Woodstock, Kidlington, Charlbury, Eynsham and Oxford tackled the blaze. Station officer Barry Stockford said: "About 25 per cent of the roof is damaged. Our main concern was to prevent it spreading to the rest of the building.

"We had it under control in about an hour. The cause is still being investigated."

The pub, which is owned by Morrells of Oxford, had been closed for refurbishment. Ben and Sarah only moved in a week ago as tenants.

Sarah said: "We're not sure yet how bad the damage is. There is a lot of water about as well as the fire damage, but it could have been a lot worse. "The fire service were brilliant. We were due to re-open in the middle of next week but we'll have to see."

Ben, who fled in just a pair of shorts and was provided with clothes by the Red Cross Support Unit, said: "We've only just moved up here from Devon and have never come across a unit like this before.

"They've been brilliant, offering us coffee, clothes and help."

Traffic on the A4095 Witney to Woodstock road was held up while firefighters cleared up after the blaze.

Story date: Thursday 04 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.