FIRE crews have been praised for preventing a fire spreading and causing major damage to a popular country pub. Six crews were called to the blaze at The Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge in the early hours of Tuesday. The fire started in a storage cellar under the pub’s flat – and is thought to have been caused by rodent damage to wiring. David Crossland, partner at The Lion Inn, said, the pub was mainly undamaged apart from smoke. “The fire occurred in a storage cellar which was only storing the old furniture we had removed from the bar and dining rooms to allow social distancing, it did not reach the pub and everyone is fine.