A country pub in Canterbury has been destroyed overnight in a Christmas Eve fire.
The Kirwee Tavern, about 20km west of Christchurch, was engulfed by flames just before midnight with 60 firefighters needed from across the area to tackle the blaze.
"Kirwee Fire could see the Kirwee tavern was well ablaze from the Fire Station and immediately asked for further resources," Fire and Emergency posted to Facebook on Tuesday night.
"In attendance there are 16 appliances consisting of approx 60 firefighters with crews from Kirwee, Darfield, Coalgate, Rolleston, Sheffield, West Melton, Christchurch Central, and Wigram."
Dramatic pictures posted to social media show flames tearing through the two-storey building.
By the time the blaze had been extinguished, much of the building had been destroyed.
Fire and Emergency told media there's no sign the fire was suspicious at this stage.
The town's chief fire officer, Stuart Jones, would like to thank all the crews for coming out.
