Blaze at stables a ‘terrifying experience’

Top racehorse trainer Jamie Osborne praised the Lambourn community for their help after fire ripped through his stables, destroying a house.

The drama happened at 4am on Saturday and led to staff escaping from a window.

But despite the intensity of the blaze, nobody was hurt and the animals were rescued. 

The 51-year-old former leading National Hunt jockey later tweeted these images, one of which showed how close the flames came to one of the horses at his Old Malt House Stables in Upper Lambourn.

He said: “The fire was in a staff house, which is surrounded by 10 stables; three of them are quite close.

“Obviously our main priority was to make sure no one was in the house.

“Then thankfully we managed to get the horses out quite calmly.”

Mr Osborne’s employee Katie Moffatt, who lives in the house, said she awoke to find flames downstairs.

She told our racing correspondent, Luke Harvey, how she escaped through a window, but lost some of her valued possessions, adding: “It was a terrifying experience.”

Mr Osborne said he was inundated with goodwill messages and offers of help, while some residents helped provide temporary accommodation for the horses.

He later posted on social media: “Thank you to everyone that helped. Lambourn at its finest!”

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which extinguished the blaze, is investigating the cause.