MORE than 60 firefighters tackled a blaze in the roof at the historic Rattlebone Inn in Sherston, near Malmesbury, earlky today.

The famous 17th century pub, regularly visited by Prince Harry and Prince William, has been badly damaged but the occupants escaped uninjured.

A fire service spokesman said firefighters were called to the pub at around 2.30am and found that the fire had broken out in the second floor roof space.

The manager, who was the only one in the building, was woken up by smoke alarms and got out.

At the height of the blaze, there were ten fire engines in attendance from three counties, with crews from Malmesbury, Chippenham, Corsham, Stratton, Tetbury, Nailsworth and Yate.

An aerial appliance from Swindon and an incident command vehicle from Stratton were also sent to the scene.

The fire was out by 8am and work began to make the building safe.

The main road through Sherston is expected remain closed until  later this morning.

A spokesman said: "An investigation into what caused the fire will continue through the day but it is believed to have started accidentally."