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Thatched roof blaze caused by lorry hitting cables

Alex McIntyre
BBC News, West Midlands
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service An aerial image of a rural village with smoke billowing from a thatched cottage on the right. A fire engine is parked in the middle of the road with its ladder extended up to the roof of the cottage. Firefighters can be seen tackling the blaze.Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service
The thatched cottage caught fire after a lorry knocked down overhead cables

A thatched cottage caught fire after overhead cables were knocked down by a lorry, police have said.

Seven fire engines were sent to the large blaze on Main Street in Swynnerton, Staffordshire, at about 13:00 BST on Tuesday.

The flames had spread along the ridge of the cottage before they were brought under control and extinguished, with crews leaving the scene at midnight.

Nobody was injured and Staffordshire Police said it was deemed to have been started by "a lorry colliding with the overhead electrical cables, causing them to fall onto the thatched roof".

A force spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing and has urged anyone with information to get in touch.

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