NINE fire crews are responding to a blaze at a 400-year-old cottage.
Firefighters were called to the scene in Harts Lane, Ardleigh, just before 5pm on Sunday.
When they arrived they found the whole of the thatched roof was on fire.
Station Manager Martyn Hare said: "Crews are working hard to control and tackle the fire by removing the thatch from the roof.
"We also have crews inside the building, salvaging historical contents and protecting the property from further damage.
"Often thatch fires can take a lot of man-power to tackle and our firefighters are doing a brilliant job in difficult conditions.
"We anticipate the fire will take some time to completely extinguish and so we expect to be at the incident throughout the night."
By 9pm last night crews reported that they were making steady progress in removing the thatch and tackling the fire in sections.
And by 11.30pm the incident commander advised that around 90% of the thatch had been removed.
Crews were continuing to dampen down the material and the surrounding area.
The fire was out completely by 6.30am.
Fire crews are still on the scene monitoring conditions.
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