A 200-year-old barn has suffered damage after a blaze on Wednesday evening.

A 200-year-old barn has been damaged in a blaze.

The building, in Green Lane, Guist, near Dereham, is used by Country Classics to store firewood but fire fighters were able to contain the blaze before much damage could be done to stock.

Country Classics' Alan Tarrant said: 'The fire service contained it very well.

'It was mostly just chipping that burned.

'I left at about half past three and there was nothing alight.

'I got a call from the man who lives on the farm and he said there was smoke coming out of the roof of the barn so I came rushing back.

'The log store is about 95pc still good, which is lucky.

'We have about 150 tonnes of wood stored up so we should be fine even in a very hard winter.'

About nine fire engines attended the scene during the course of Wednesday night to make sure the flames remained contained and it appears there has been no long term structural damage other than to the roof.

Stuart Horth, Norfolk Fire Service's head of community safety, said: 'We were there fairly quickly and were able to contain the fire.

'We were worried about the structural integrity of the barn so we couldn't send firefighters inside which made it a longer job.

'The main thing was making sure the fire wasn't going to spread to the rest of the firewood. There was a large amount of smoke and so everyone required breathing apparatus, which takes extra resource and access to water was an issue so we brought a water carrier to help.'

Fire crews remained on the scene until the next morning to ensure the fire could not spark up again.