Listed thatched cottage worth £350,000 collapses into street after cob walls caved in

This is the moment a scaffolding shift caused a 500-year-old thatched cottage to collapse into the middle of a road.

The listed £350,000 home was undergoing renovations when its old walls gave way, leaving straw and rubble strewn across the street in leafy East Budleigh, Devon.

Firefighters raced to the scene after being alerted by a panicked neighbour, but found the house in ruins by the time they got there.

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The home is said to have collapsed after scaffold poles holding it up had either given way or been removed - causing it to crash into the road.

But John Simms, the owner's father who was at Hill farm at the time, says the old walls simply collapsed.

The house fell down after John heard 'cracking' noises on Wednesday afternoon.

John and two builders fled unscathed before a side wall made of cob - a traditional building material made from sand, earth and water - slowly crumpled.

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He said: 'I heard cracking noises, which became louder so I got out. Then around 20 minutes later the roof and the walls came down, as if in slow motion. The cob just failed.

'It could have been a lot worse. We're just so thankful no one was hurt or worse. Until we can get inside we won't know what's left intact and what isn't.'

Exmouth Fire Station watch manager Dan Searle said: 'On arrival, the cob wall had actually collapsed. It was the entire wall of the house, which was under renovation.

'No-one was injured - everyone was clear. We were just there for scene safety, isolating the electricity and the water.'

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said officers attended but the local council has taken charge of the situation as nobody was hurt.