FIRE investigators are looking into the cause of a blaze, believed to have been started deliberately, at the Merry Harriers pub at Clayhidon.

A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said fire crews were called to the pub shortly before 11pm on Sunday and found the building well alight. The blaze was initially tackled in the conservatory, as well as the first floor of the building.

The spokesman said the blaze caused severe damage to the pub, some of it potentially structural. Six fire engines attended, along with police and ambulance.

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.”

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.