REGULARS at The Barley Mow pub in The Sands are trying to rally together and support the pub by going in for a drink, after a fire broke out in the kitchen.

Flames took hold on Saturday, July 21, just before midnight after the landlord, George Downie, and landlady, Abigail Duke, had locked up for the night and gone to sleep.

The pair, who have in charge for 18 years, were awoken by the fire alarm, at which point they found the kitchen ablaze and tried to “dampen it down as best we could with fire extinguishers”, until the fire service arrived, according to George. They managed to keep the flames contained to the kitchen, but damage has left it unusable and in need of a complete refurb, forcing George and Abigail to limit opening times.

Smoke damage upstairs means Abigail is waiting to find out whether she can remain living there.

George said: “It’s the busiest time of the year and it’s especially difficult at the moment because the weather is so good, but that can’t be helped. We had four fire engines out, but it didn’t spread to anywhere else so it could’ve been a lot worse.”

George was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, but ended up having to stay overnight as his “blood count was bad”.

He added: “I’m a bit stressed, but what can you do, it is what it is. We’ve just got to make the best of what we’ve got.”

Abigail told the Herald she was finding it “a bit of a struggle”, but that “people have been extremely kind”.

She continued: “You always think something like this is never going to happen to you but people have been really, really supportive and nice. There’s some lovely people around here and we’ve got some really lovely friends - it’s times like this you find out who they are I suppose.”

George gave his “thanks for everybody’s help”, as on the night of the incident somebody gave him a pair of shoes, another brought out a tray of drinks and others offered food, a place to stay and help with the clear up. He believes it could take two to three months for the kitchen to be back up and running, but in the mean time the pair are planning on organising a barbecue or hog roast.

A Surrey Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were called at around 12.15am on Sunday morning to a fire at a property in Littleworth Road, The Sands. We sent two fire engines to extinguish a fire in the kitchen and we left at around 2am.”