Pictures show damage caused by fire at derelict mansion in West Berkshire

Fire services used water from River Thames to deal with the fire

PICTURES, taken from a drone, show the damage caused by a huge fire at The Grotto in Lower Basildon, in the early hours of Saturday.

At 2.35am, fire appliances from Dee Road, Wokingham Road, Whitley Wood, Caversham Road, Mortimer, Slough, Wokingham, Windsor, Bracknell and Maidenhead rushed to the scene.

The aerial pictures, captured by Tony McGinn, show the extent of the blaze and how badly it affected the mansion house in Lower Basildon.

On arrival, crews found a fire in a derelict building that was well developed and they worked to extinguish the fire using four main jets and two light portable pumps to get water from the River Thames.

Crews were on the scene for six hours, but returned later for reinspections to ensure the fire was fully out.

Pictures taken by Tony McGinn: tonymcginn@hotmail.com