MORE than £700 pounds has been raised for an Alcester couple were made homeless following a pub fire.

On Saturday (April 17), a blaze ripped through the historic Three Tuns pub, leaving the building badly damaged.

Abigail Lewis, aged 31, and her fiancé Laura Hemming, aged 28, were living in a flat above the Sue Ryder charity shop, which is adjoined to the pub.

The flat was also severely damaged and the couple lost precious items. Fortunately their pet cat was saved.

The couple are now living in a Travelodge in Stratford until permanent accommodation can be found.

The aftermath of the fire at The Three Tuns pub on Alcester High Street

The aftermath of the fire at The Three Tuns pub on Alcester High Street

Ms Hemming's sister Shelly decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to raised money to replace some of the items they have lost and rebuild their lives.

So far the page has raised more than £700 pounds. People can donate to the page here.

Ms Lewis said: "It's really nice to get the support. I didn't think people would help as much as they have.

Ms Lewis, who works as a nurse at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, was in her flat at the time of the fire, and had fallen asleep in front of the TV.

She said her partner was having a coffee at Orangemabel before she spotted smoke billowing from the pub and rushed back to their home.

She said they heard "loud bangs" coming from the building.

Ms Lewis added: "All I could see was smoke. It was just horrendous. I'm lucky that my partner was in Alcester when I was asleep.

"It could have been a lot worse. It's lucky the whole town didn't go up."

A spokesperson from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue said: "Warwickshire Fire Investigators have now completed their investigations at the scene. They will now undertake the process of gathering evidence from all available sources for example, witness statements from firefighters attending the incident and initiate the process of formulating a hypothesis regarding the potential cause of the fire."