LOCALS reacted quickly to extinguish a fire outside the historic Malmesbury Abbey late last night.

They used buckets of water and fire extinguishers to put out a fire believed to have been started by local yobs.

One resident, Charli Cumberpatch, said: “A massive well done and thank you to staff at The Birdcage and Old Bell and local folks who reacted so fast tonight with fire extinguishers and buckets of water to put out the fire at the abbey.

“It could have been a very different ending without everyone being so incredible. Well done everyone!”

A spokeswoman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue service said that a crew from Chippenham were called out to the blaze at 9.12pm last night.

They used one hose reel, drags and a thermal imaging camera to tackle the fire, said a spokeswoman in fire control.

The fire is understood to have started when yobs set fire to waste and refuse outside the abbey, which dates from the 12th century.

Malmesbury Abbey is one of the oldest and most important religious sites in England with a history going back to at least the 7th century. 

The Grade I listed abbey is built on the site of a former Saxon monastery dating back to AD700.

Athelstan, the first king of all England, was buried in Malmesbury Abbey when he died in 939.

By the 12th-century it was an important Benedictine Abbey and a noted seat of learning.

At that time it possessed the second largest library in Europe and one of its community was the 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury.

It was given a Grade I listing in 1949, having survived previous fires and the English Civil War.