A village pub that was used for filming in the new Harry Potter HBO series has been ravaged by a devastating blaze.
Emergency services said that ‘severe damage’ was caused to The Cleave Inn pub in Lustleigh, Devon, after a fire spread from its storeroom in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The small village on the edge of Dartmoor had been used for filming on Wednesday and Thursday last week for the revival of JK Rowling’s iconic fantasy series.
However, the owner of The Cleave Inn, Luke Smith, has now been forced to close the pub again after it was shut amid production.
Mr Smith said: ‘Whilst we are still not certain of the cause of the fire, and how the next few days look, we are working extremely hard to ensure we reopen as soon as possible.
‘The pub means a lot to the village, and the village means a lot to us, so we’ll do everything we can to get these doors back open to our loyal customers.’
Eight fire engines from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue were sent to the severely damaged storeroom. The cause of the fire is now under investigation.
The blaze comes just days after residents in Lustleigh celebrated the arrival of the Harry Potter film crew.
Earlier this month, fans were given their first look at John Lithgow as Dumbledore.
The 79-year-old Oscar nominee was photographed in full costume on a beach in Cornwall.
Eagled-eyed observers also spotted how he was reading magic spells from cue cards.
The veteran actor joins an all-star cast for the new series, including names like Warwick Davies and Paapa Essiedu, as well as Louise Brealey and Anton Lesser.
Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout will all also be playing the new Golden Trio: Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
Dominic in particular was selected from over 32,000 hopefuls as he will now step into the iconic role made famous by Daniel Radcliffe.
Nick Frost, known for Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, will also take on the role of Hagrid.
Metro has contacted The Cleave Pub and HBO for comment.
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