One of Huddersfield’s most historic pubs has been badly damaged by fire... but the new owners are managing to stay open.

Flames were spotted coming from the roof at the Woolpack Country Inn on Whitley Road at Whitley near Grange Moor by a passerby at 10.15pm on Friday.

People drinking and eating in the pub evacuated it and fire crews from Mirfield and Dewsbury were quickly at the scene. Their swift action saved the pub from even more destruction.

But the fire had taken such a hold an aerial appliance was also called in from Huddersfield to tackle the flames from above.

Watch Commander Tim Pallister from Dewsbury fire station said: “We had crews wearing breathing apparatus inside the pub within five minutes of arriving. We used salvage sheets to cover what we could to try to minimise the damage inside while the fire was tackled in the roof. Around 30% of the roof has been destroyed but it could have been a lot worse.

“The fire has caused structural damage to the chimney stack and the road had to be cordoned off until structural engineers could attend to either remove it or make it safe.

“Part of the upstairs living quarters was also badly damaged by the fire.

“It was fortunate we managed to get there quickly or a lot more of the building could have been lost.”

The pub was only taken over two weeks ago by Francisco Da Silva and Lyn-Jane Vitel.

Francisco was full of praise for the firefighters for keeping the damage inside to a minimum which has helped them to carry on trading.

“Those boys were amazing,” he said. “The best fire service ever. It means we could open as usual on Saturday and able to serve the 100 people who had booked in to dine with us on Sunday.”

He revealed that the fire had been caused by a faulty junction box in the living quarters.

Workmen arrived on Saturday to remove the potentially dangerous chimney.

Francisco added: “It’s too early to say yet when the full repairs can be done but we would certainly like them to be done within a month.”

The pub, which dates back to the 1700s, is insured.