A fire at a pub part-owned by England cricketer Stuart Broad has left those in charge “heartbroken” to see it go “up in flames”.

       Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said it is believed the blaze in the early hours of Saturday at the Tap & Run country pub and kitchen in Upper Broughton was accidental.

       The award-winning venue, halfway between Nottingham and Melton Mowbray, has closed “for the foreseeable future” after being “severely damaged”.

       On the pub’s Twitter account those in charge said they were “heartbroken to see our beautiful pub up in flames”, but were thankful no-one was hurt.

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       It is owned by England cricketer Broad and retired player Harry Gurney, and won Pub of the Year 2021 in Leicestershire as well as making it on to The Times list of the best places in Britain for Sunday lunch in 2022.

       Broad, who is currently playing in the second Test at Trent Bridge against New Zealand, said he is in shock and the news “hurts right now”.

       Alongside a picture of the pub on fire he posted a tweet on Saturday evening, saying: “I couldn’t believe the news this morning. Not sure I still can.”

       He added: “Thankfully no one was hurt, the Nottinghamshire Fire Service were incredible in their efforts & thank you to the villagers for the wonderful support & sorry for the disruption.

       “Thinking of our awesome staff today, every single person there has created a special pub for the community. It hurts right now but we will come out the other side.”

       Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) said the property had been severely damaged, with a fire in the roof still burning by mid-morning on Saturday.

       In a tweet shortly before 4.30am, the fire service said it had eight fire engines at the scene in Main Road, Upper Broughton.

       In an update just after 1pm on Saturday NFRS said the blaze had been completely extinguished and it was “believed to be an accidental fire”.

       A statement on the pub’s Twitter account read: “We’re absolutely devastated to report that a fire broke out in the pub during the night.

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       “We are heartbroken to see our beautiful pub up in flames. Thankfully no one was hurt. We are sorry we will not be able to honour any bookings for the foreseeable future and sorry for any distress the fire has caused the villagers.”

       They thanked the “brilliant” fire service and all those who had sent “kind messages of support”.