MORE THAN 100 firefighters have battled a huge thatched roof fire for around eleven hours on the Somerset/Devon border.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was called to the incident at Whitehorns Farmhouse, in Yarcombe, at 11.20am yesterday (January 19).

There were 12 fire appliances, including two engines from Chard, one from Wellington, one from Taunton, and more than 100 firefighters at the incident.

Police and an ambulance were also called to the scene, although the paramedics were only there as a precaution.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "We were called to Whitehorns in Yarcombe at 11.20am.

"The thatched roof of a property is well alight.

"The thatched roof goes over two dwellings, and firefighters are using water and foam jets to try and extinguish it.

"Firefighters are also trying to create a break in the roof to stop the fire spreading further.

"We currently have eight appliances at the scene, plus specialist teams."

At 12.40pm, the incident manager requested another four appliances, taking the total up to 12.

The incident commander on the scene said: "We have a thatched fire in a range of domestic dwellings, farmhouse type buildings.

"We do not know how the fire started.

"We have 12 fire engines at the moment and support for those fire engines.

"We are working on the roof with ladders and hoses. We are using compressed air foam and we are having to shuttle water in."

Police closed the road while fire fighters tackled the blaze.

At 5pm a spokesman for the Fire Service said: "The crews are making good progress and reliefs crews will soon be taking over, the road remains closed and we expect to have presence at the scene overnight."

A spokesman for Devon and Somerset fire a Rescue later added: "By 10.30pm we had removed all the hotpsots from the building and there were no further hotspots visible.

"We revisited the sight overnight as a precaution, but there are no longer any fire crews there."