FIRE investigators are looking into the cause of a fire in a popular pub shortly after the landlord disappeared.
Fire crews were called to the Merry Harriers, on the Blackdown Hills, at Clayhidon, shortly before 11pm yesterday (Sunday, July 10).
A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said the buiding was well alight when firefighters arrived on the scene.
He added that a total of six fire engines attended, along with police and ambulance.
The blaze was initially tackled in the conservatory, as well as the first floor of the building.
The fire is now out. It is believed it was started deliberately.
The spokesman said the blaze caused severe damage to the pub, some of it potentially structural.
The pub recently closed, according to the clayhidon.org website, with fencing blocking the entrance.
The site says: " No-one answers the phone and various attempts to contact the landlord Wesley Sneijder have drawn a blank.
Wesley Sneijder.
A regular is quoted as saying: "Nobody knows where he has gone or why. It's a great mystery."
Wesley - usually known as Wayne to avoid confusion with his famous footballing namesake - became landlord in 2015, when he announced he had bought the lease from Reg and Leslie Payne and said he was trying to bring the pub back to its glory days.
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