Fire destroys rare block of stables .sx A rare Victorian stable block - believed to be one of only two of its kind in Norfolk - was destroyed by fire yesterday .sx A pile of twisted , charred timbers was all that remained of the elegant 19th century building after flames had torn through 300 bales of straw .sx Firemen fought for an hour to bring the blaze at New Buckenham under control .sx Owners Keith and Barbara Carr-Hodgson were heartbroken as they stood in the doorway of their home and watched the prized building being torn apart .sx " It can be rebuilt but it will never be the same again .sx I was terrified it would spread to the house , " said Mrs Carr-Hodgson .sx They were thankful their prize stallion , normally housed in a box at the back of the stables , was away at stud .sx " We would never have got him out , " Mrs Carr-Hodgson said .sx The fireman leading the operation , Station Officer Nigel Monument , praised the crews of four engines - from Wymondham , Attleborough and East Harling - for stemming the fire's spread .sx They managed to save the adjoining tack room , containing several saddles and stopped its spread to adjacent buildings and the house , The Grange .sx The couple's six horses were out at meadow when the fire started .sx Its cause had not been established last night , but it is not thought to be suspicious .sx Destroy rabbits plea by farmers .sx Farmers are demanding that rabbits at a wildlife haven should be wiped out because they are damaging crops .sx Dorothy Pratt and her sons , whose farm borders 30 acres of prime fen land , are threatening to present their parish council with a bill for crop damage unless it arranges for the rabbits to be shot or gassed .sx For years , they claim , the animals have scurried off Hinderclay fen , which is also popular with birdwatchers and ramblers .sx Now they are asking the parish to take responsibility .sx " They run the fen and should keep the rabbits down .sx Farming is difficult enough now without rabbits eating the crops , " said Mrs Pratt , of Grove Farm .sx Other farmers protect the perimeter of their land with wire .sx But the Pratts say they should not have to pay for defences .sx Hinderclay chairman Robin de Vere Green said a man awarded shooting rights by the council was doing his best to control the rabbits .sx " But there are so many , and they are burrowed in everywhere .sx " .sx The Pratts could do their own shooting on the land , which is crossed by the Knettishall Heath to Lowestoft footpath , he said .sx " But it will be pointed out to them that it is used as a place for people to walk , which makes it difficult to shoot .sx " .sx The parish looks after the fen - an extension of the Redgrave and Lopham fens , and part of the Waveney Valley Project - for its charity owners .sx Town theatre hit by fire - but shows will go on .sx Fire destroyed Wisbech theatre's auditorium over the weekend , forcing the summer prgramme of events to be re-housed .sx The blaze started in the stage area of Angles Theatre at about 4am on Saturday and spread to the basement .sx Chairman of the theatre , John Smith , said it was fortunate the fire was detected otherwise the whole of the Georgian theatre , the second oldest in the country still in use , would have been wrecked .sx " We are thankful to a policeman who happened to be passing over Wisbech bridge and smelled smoke .sx If he hadn't found the fire the damage would have been much worse , " he said .sx Built in 1793 , it was used as a theatre until 1846 when it was taken over for other uses , including church services .sx It was revived as a theatre 13 years ago .sx The present acting area , which was ruined by the blaze , used to be the pit where poorer classes would sit .sx Firemen said the blaze started in a chaise longue , possibly by a cigarette end .sx It was not being treated as suspicious .sx Two crews from Wisbech and one from West Walton fought the blaze through the basement , and finally left the building at 11 am .sx A spokesman said the old timber and structure of the theatre made it a difficult task .sx The whole theatre area , including a new lighting board , was damaged by smoke .sx Fortunately , most of the planned events at the theatre can be held in the studio , Mr Smith said , although he added it was too early to know when the stage area would re-open .sx " The autumn programme starts on September 14 and we are going all out to be ready for then , " Mr Smith said .sx The theatre usually closes during August , and this is the first year events have been organised for the summer - Sunday lunch jazz music , and children's workshops , will now have to be held in either the studio or bar area .sx An appeal is being launched to get the theatre back into action , which Mr Smith said would cost tens of thousands of pounds .sx The theatre's emergency Phoenix Fund will help back the cost of some repairs , but more money would be needed .sx " We would be grateful of any help to get the theatre back into operation .sx There is a lot of work to be done .sx " .sx How pub was saved from fire .sx A fire-bombed Norwich pub was saved from inferno by reinforced glass windows fitted a day before the attack .sx Fire-raisers threw two Molotov cocktails at the Four Leafed Clover pub , Clover Hill , Bowthorpe , at about 1am on Saturday in the latest in a series of vandal attacks .sx Temporary manager Dominic Cullen said he was thankful that a reinforced glass window - fitted after a previous attack by vandals on Thursday - stopped one bomb from landing inside and starting a blaze .sx Nobody was in the pub when the two bombs were thrown - one exploding near the entrance and the other crashing against the window of the pub's off-sales shop .sx Mr Cullen , who has a flat at the back of the pub , reckoned he had a lucky escape .sx " It makes me angry but I will not let them get on top of me , " he said .sx If fire had taken hold he would have had to clamber out of the window of his flat and jump on to the roof at the side to escape .sx Witness Roger Mitchell , who lives opposite the pub , told how his bedroom was illuminated by the blaze which broke out near the front door of the pub .sx " It looked like a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at the front of the pub and there was also a flash round the other side when another firebomb struck a window , " he said .sx He said there had been previous vandal attacks but added :sx " When it gets to petrol bombing I think you are talking about a different category from breaking windows .sx Some sanity is required here .sx " .sx Mr Cullen said it was up to the local community to get together to sort out vandal problems in the area before someone got hurt .sx Chief Insp Bernie Kerrison , head of Norwich CID , appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact the police .sx Tragedy in rail tunnel .sx A young Norfolk man died after being hit by a train in a tunnel just outside King's Cross railway station in London .sx The man , whose name is not being released until formal identification , suffered extensive head injuries when he was struck by a King's Cross to Peterborough night train .sx The body of the man , who is aged around 25 and comes from Fakenham , was found on the track after it was spotted by a train driver .sx British Transport Police are treating the death as a possible suicide and say there are no suspicious circumstances .sx Insp Allan Couper , of the British Transport Police , said the exact circumstances surrounding the death were not known , but he added :sx " He knew what he was doing .sx " .sx Insp Couper went on :sx " All we know is that the driver of the 22.40 to Peterborough saw the body which he believed he had struck .sx It was in the Copenhagen tunnel .sx " .sx It is thought that the man was not a passenger on the train , which continued its journey afterwards .sx Relatives have been informed by Fakenham police and an inquest will be held .sx Bugs trigger alarms as county goes Continental .sx Swarms of thunderbugs enjoying the heatwave set alarm bells ringing all over Norfolk as they clogged fire sensors , triggering false call-outs for emergency teams .sx County fire crews answered at least 18 false alarms within 48 hours , as thousands of the tiny black flies blocked smoke-detector systems .sx The bugs are hatching in their millions as Norfolk basks in hot and humid weather , with temperatures matching European hotspots like the Canary Islands , the Algarve and Corfu .sx The sun also brought thousands of holidaymakers flocking to Norfolk's beaches yesterday as mid-afternoon temperatures reached 25C ( 77F ) across most of the county - seven degrees above the July average - making it one of the warmest places in Britain .sx Police said roads into resorts including Yarmouth , Lowestoft and King's Lynn were " very busy , " with some local diversions for roadworks , but there were no major problems .sx Weathermen say the Mediterranean conditions are set to continue , apart from a short mid-week break when there may be some showers .sx Colin Corkerton of Norwich Weather Centre said today would stay hot and dry .sx Tuesday and Wednesday will turn a little cooler and fresher with showers .sx " But it will not be too bad , and by the end of the week it should be very warm again , with a lot of dry weather still to come , " he said .sx There is still a long way to go , however , to reach the 1991 high of 90F ( 32C ) recorded in Cromer on July 11 .sx The current hot spell , with south-south easterly winds and very little cloud , is coming across from the Continent .sx AA Roadwatch said holiday weather had not been matched by holiday traffic so far , despite a six-mile snarl up at the Dartford Tunnel earlier as thousands of London motorists headed for Kent .sx A spokesman added :sx " There are obviously a lot of people out so we expect there may be some problems later when people decide to go home .sx " .sx But , while some drivers were stranded because of overheated engines , skippers in the Channel were battling through thick fog .sx A coastguard at Dover , Kent , said :sx " The rest of the county may be sunning itself , but there is thick fog in the Channel .sx " Vessels are reporting visibility down to just half a mile .sx They can't see where they're going and are relying on us , and their own radar .sx " .sx Race to halt sewage plan .sx A NORFOLK MP will this week make an 11th-hour bid to halt controversial plans for a big new seaside sewage works .sx North Norfolk MP Ralph Howell will hold a top-level meeting with Anglian Water chairman Bernard Henderson in a final attempt to find another site for the project , which has sparked a storm of protest in Cromer .sx But the meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday morning - when councillors are holding a separate meeting which could give the go-ahead for the project .sx So the campaign to stop Anglian Water building the sewage works in the Cromer countryside has become a race against time , with Mr Howell now hoping to hold his talks with Mr Henderson before Thursday's crucial council meeting .sx The MP said at the weekend :sx " I shall certainly try to see Mr Henderson earlier than planned .sx I am trying to get in touch with him .sx " .sx Planners will urge North Norfolk District Council development committee on Thursday to give their blessing to the proposed waste water treatment centre at Sandy Lane , Cromer .sx Angry neighbours have formed a residents' association to fight the project , but AW is now suggesting a new access to the site which would stop sewage works traffic passing their homes .sx A report from North Norfolk chief planning officer David Evans to Thursday's development committee meeting urges councillors to give permission for the sewage works when technical problems have been ironed out .sx But Mr Howell is denouncing Anglian Water's attitude to the project as " heavy handed " , insisting that a better site must be found .sx