FIRE ripped through a Gwent pub - just minutes after Saturday night drinkers had left.

The Parc-y-Pryor pub in Malpas, Newport, suffered massive damage in the fire which swept through the roof space and caused massive damage to the building.

Fire crews were called to the pub on Almond Drive, at 11.50pm, to find flames leaping 30 feet into the air through the roof.

Firefighters had to use special equipment and battled for more than three hours to bring the blaze under control.

Firefighter Nick Suller, 36, of Maindee station said: "It was a really big fire that started on the first floor.

"We had to use a hydraulic platform to get close enough to the fire in the roof space to bring it under control."

As well as the hydraulic platform, crews manning four fire engines from Malpas, Cwmbran and Maindee tackled the flames.

Next-door neighbour Laurie Jones, 63, of Aspen Way, told the Argus: "Me, my wife and son had been in the pub for a drink the half hour before it closed. I dropped my son home and when I came back there were flames coming from a bedroom window. The fire brigade arrived but the fire had spread. Within half an hour it had caught hold of the roof and the whole thing went up. Flames shot 20 or 30 feet in the air and the whole roof and upper floors were burning."

Mr Jones added: "Our house is quite far from the pub but my wife Jennifer and I stayed up until we were sure it was safe."

No-one was injured in the incident and it is not yet known how the blaze started.

Fire brigade investigators were today still trying to establish the cause of the blaze. Inspectors are also due to carry out an assessment to see whether the badly-damaged building can be rebuilt.

* Pictured: The Parc-y-Pryor pub, Malpas, after the blaze