WORKERS are boarding up the windows of a Tottenham pub that was gutted by fire in the early hours of this morning.

The smell of smoke lingers in the air around The Antwerp Arms in Church Road, which was largely destroyed by a blaze at around 12.30am that burnt out the ground floor and damaged parts of the first floor, where the landlord was rescued by firefighters.

The cause of the blaze, which took seven hours to put out, is under investigation, but a nearby Prospect Place resident, who did not want to be named, told the Haringey Independent it was a “terrifying” experience.

She said: “We were in bed and then suddenly we heard the fire engines and looked out of the window.

“You could feel the heat coming from the flames – it was terrifying.”

The landlord of the pub, who was trapped on the first-floor balcony, was treated by paramedics at the scene for smoke inhalation.