12/04/11…..UPDATE: Fire still burning in Haddenham

UPATE: 18;40 hrs – Several road diversions are in operation due to the fire (see below)and are expected to be in place for much of the night as firecrews work to extinguish the blaze and carry out regular inspections. Residents near-by are being advised to keep windows closed because of the continuing smoke.

THE roofs of two, semi-detached thatched cottages in Haddenham, near Thame, are still billowing black smoke as firecrews battle to remove the burning thatch and prevent the fire from spreading.

A total of eight fire crews from both Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue, as well as turntables and other vehicles, are currently at the scene of the fire at Stockwell, in Haddenham.

The alarm was raised at around 3.40pm this afternoon by a member of the public. The cause of the fire is not yet know for certain, but by-standers and neighbours are saying that they saw flames coming from ivy on an old witchart wall between the properties and a Chinese restaurant where rubbish was seen to be burning earlier. The supposition is that a spark from the burning ivy was carried by the wind to the thatch.

SOURCE: Eye witness account and Bucks Fire & Rescue Service recorded information for the Press.