FIRE crews will resume their search for a man who is unaccounted for after a fire ripped through a listed cottage.

The blaze broke out at Fuchsia Cottage, East Bergholt, just after 1.20am on Sunday.

It was not known whether the occupant of the grade two-listed building, in Gaston Street, was at home when the fire broke out.

Police have been trying to trace the man who rents the cottage.

A spokesman for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said: “A search could potentially be conducted today to establish if there is a missing person within the remains of the property or not.”

A fire investigation will then take place to try to establish the cause of the blaze.

Firefighters from Essex and Suffolk went to the blaze.

Emergency crews could see the fire from the A12 more than a mile away.

Four fire engines and an aerial platform were at the incident at the height of the blaze.

Fire crews from Colchester, Manningtree, Nayland, Ipswich and Hadleigh had been sent to the scene.

The ferocity of the blaze meant the roof and first floor were in danger of collapsing so the fire had to be tackled from outside the building.

The blaze was out by 5am on Sunday.