A well-known Grade II listed pub in South East Cornwall has been closed down temporarily, after a chimney crashed through the roof during the high winds on Sunday.

The storm caused up to £100,000 worth of damage at the Butchers Arms at St Ive.

The police evacuated landlord Nobby Clark, his wife Angie, and children Ben, eight, and Zara, five, just after 8am, saying the building was in too dangerous a state for them to remain inside.

They also closed the road next to the pub leading to Pensilva, as it was blocked by debris falling from the building. The road remained closed throughout Sunday and was re-opened on Monday afternoon.

Mr Clark, who has been at the 16th century inn for the last eight years, said the chimney over the old oven in the kitchen collapsed, bringing down part of the roof, the ceiling in the store room, and the old cobb wall at the side of the building.

'We had some flooding under the pub last year, which didn't help, and now the whole wall is in a dangerous state,' he said.

'What's left is bowing outwards. Because the pub is listed and the walls are the original cobb, the repairs will have to be undertaken by specialists. I don't know how long it will take, but the owners, Enterprise Inns, will be sorting it out.'

Mr Clark and his family have moved into a temporary home offered by a friend who has a holiday bungalow at Rosecraddoc. 'Everything comes at once,' Mr Clarke said.

'I am going into hospital at the end of January for major surgery, so I don't know what will be happening in the foreseeable future. Things will work out over time. It's one of those things.'