GUESTS and staff had to be evacuated from a pub in dramatic scenes over the weekend, when a fire burnt down a large section of the building.

Eighteen guests and two staff members were evacuated from the Black Swan pub in Fearby near Masham in the Yorkshire Dales when fire broke out overnight on Friday (August 28).

A fire engine from Masham was first on the scene followed by police and ambulance crews. A water tanker and other fire units arrived from Ripon as the fire progressed.

The road was closed to traffic as fire crews fought the intense blaze, which burnt down a large section of the building.

One onlooker, Bryan Scott, said pub staff and guests were taken to Fearby Village Hall and given hot drinks in the early hours of the morning.

After fire crews fought the blaze for three to four hours, guests were allowed back into the residential units on the opposite side of the building to the fire.

The Northern Echo: