FIREFIGHTERS are battling a blaze which has completely engulfed the roof of a thatched house.

In total, nine crews are at the scene of the fire in Pledgdon Green, Henham, near Bishops’s Stortford.

They were first alerted to the incident at 5.15am and on arrival they discovered that 100per cent of the roof was alight and 50pc of the first floor was on fire.

The RSPCA is in attendance at the incident to search for a six-foot Python which escaped from the property when the fire broke out.

Wearing breathing apparatus, firefighters have been tackling the flames using four hose reel jets,

By 7.45am, crews reported that they were still fighting the fire and were carrying out salvage operations to recover any of the residents personal items from the property.

Divisional Officer Jon Anderson, incident commander, says that good progress is being made.