A 20-year-old man is still unaccounted for, say police, after a serious fire at a house in Deviock near Seaton on Sunday.

Fire crews and police were called to the scene of the blaze at around 1.30pm.

Few details are available at present about the circumstances of the fire, but police say that no-one was helped by fire crew at the scene.

A police spokesperson said: “The cause of the fire is currently being treated as unexplained and a 20-year-old man is currently unaccounted for. Enquiries are ongoing in relation to this.

“Extensive fire damage has been caused to the property and the safety of the building is being assessed.

“A police cordon remains in place at this time and the road is closed whilst the joint investigation is ongoing. This is likely to be remain the case over the coming days.”

One person who said he lives close to the fire and says that he was first on the scene said that by the time emergency services arrived the fire had taken hold and “was too much for anything to be done about it”.

Deviock Parish Council said that the road closure affects “the road at the junction of Deviock Hill and Tregunnick Lane (and possibly Hazell’s Wood), which will be closed for the next few days”.