Firefighters have finally left the scene of a “devastating” fire which ripped through a 400-year-old hotel that was housing Ukrainian refugees.
Crews were at the 17th century Angel Inn in Midhurst for nearly two days from the early hours of Thursday morning until late last night.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is leading the investigation in to the cause of the fire which Sussex Police is supporting with.
There were around 30 Ukrainian refugees including children staying in the hotel who were evacuated from the building safely.
Midhurst Fire Station thanked the community for its support following the huge blaze.
A spokesman said: “So much has already been said about this incident and the response from the local community. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to all our neighbouring services and partner agencies who supported us.
“We’d also like to express our heartfelt thanks for the enormous community support provided from the moment we arrived, too many of you to mention individually, but you know who you all are thank you and also for the overwhelming number of kind messages of support.
“Lastly and most importantly our thoughts remain with all those who have been affected and suffered as a result of this devastating incident.”
Speaking from the scene, area manager Richard Abbot advised commuters North Street would remain closed and asked the public to avoid the area.
“It is too early in the incident to know the cause of the fire, however we will be investigating as soon as it is safe to do so,” he said.
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Emergency services arrived at the scene of the fire at around 1.20am on Thursday morning.
There were 14 fire engines at the scene where the building’s roof was largely destroyed.
Hilton Holloway, who lives opposite the hotel, said: “There were a number of Ukrainian refugees in the hotel, which had around 15 rooms.
“I spoke to one young woman who seemed relatively calm.”
A cause for the fire has yet to be identified.
The fire service has been approached for comment.
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