AN INVESTIGATION into the cause of a devastating blaze at a thatched cottage has been suspended because of safety fears.

Fire investigators have been unable to enter the fire-ravaged 15th Century home in Garboldisham, near Diss, after building inspectors deemed the property too unstable.

A spokesman for Norfolk Fire Service said: “The building has been declared unsafe so what they have been doing is as much of the investigation from the outside as they can, but it has suspended the investigation for now.”

He added that no cause had yet been identified for the fire, which badly damaged two historic cottages.

Up to 14 fire crews from Suffolk and Norfolk attended the blaze in The Street on Thursday evening and the whole village was cordoned off by police.

Two fire appliances were still at the scene on Friday, while The Street remained closed to traffic and a cordon continued around the affected homes and their neighbouring properties. Both were lifted by 2pm.

A police spokesman said officers were not treating the fire as suspicious.

The cottage owners, Rodney and Pauline Hinton, managed to escape unhurt.

The couple, believed to be in their 60s, were too upset to talk, but their daughter-in-law Karen did manage to speak at the time the fire was taking place.

She said: “They said the fire started in the loft. The electricity went off and that’s when they realised there was a problem. They phoned the fire brigade and were able to get their two dogs out of the house. They also saved some of their most precious possessions.”

The flames also engulfed a thatched cottage next door, but the young couple living there were not home at the time.