THE cause of the fire that tore through the roof of the Cross Keys pub in Royal Wootton Bassett on Sunday is being treated as an accident – but concerns have been raised about the stability of the old building.

Fire services were called out to the blaze at the High Street pub at 3.46pm on Sunday.

Five appliances were dispatched from Royal Wootton Bassett, Westlea, Swindon, Stratton and Cricklade, along with an aerial appliance from Swindon, two water carriers, and an incident command vehicle.

Firefighters spent three hours tackling the flames, which engulfed the roof of the building, but were able to prevent it from spreading to any of the nearby shops.

After an inspection of the building, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has been able to rule out any criminal activity, and control of the pub has been given back to its new owners.

Ian Drury, group commander of Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The building has now been handed back over to Enterprise Inns.

“While our investigation is still ongoing alongside contractors, we can confirm that we are treating this as an accidental fire but have not concluded the exact cause.”

The pub, which had been under renovation and was due to reopen to the public on August 2, was built in 1742, and the fire commander expressed concerns as to whether the old building could remain standing.

“Because of the nature of the building, being structurally unstable, it has been difficult to conduct a thorough investigation,” said Mr Drury.

“We are looking at a bit of a landmark building. The roof at the front of the original pub has been completely destroyed and the majority of that has fallen in on the first floor, causing more structural damage. Parts of the first floor have also collapsed.

“An engineer was on hand yesterday to advise us and he was able to put to bed any fears as to the damage to nearby properties. Both neighbours are fine, but we have got concerns over the ability of the first floor to hold.

“The owners are now working with the council to make the building safe, but it will take several months unfortunately.

“We can rule out that the refurbishment work was the cause, because the workers had not been there all weekend.”

One of the oldest pubs in Royal Wootton Bassett, the Cross Keys used to be a prominent feature when military servicemen returned from tours of duty.

Town resident Jeff Brant, 57, said: “It was one of the places where the kids used to hang out on a weekend, but when you had the repats coming back they would put on free tea and coffee for them and give them a hero’s welcome.

“It is probably the oldest pub in Wootton Bassett.”