A Hatch Warren pub has been forced to close this weekend following torrential rain earlier this week.

The Portsmouth Arms, located on Hatch Warren Lane, suffered a partial roof collapse of its 90 tonne thatched roof on Friday night into Saturday morning, with the pub’s electrics being affected by the damage.

Richard Curtis, the pub’s general manager, said: “It massively pains me this morning as Thursday and Friday’s rain has collapsed an area of our beautiful thatched roof.

The area affected is directly above the fuse board that powers key areas of the pub. With it being a joint effort between roofers and electricians, we have taken the right decision to close until Monday giving people as much time as possible to make other plans for such an important weekend.

“We haven’t taken this decision lightly and it's the last thing we wanted to do. I wholeheartedly apologise and am absolutely gutted this has happened. We are in the process of contacting all parties booked.”

The pub opened in 1997, and is operated by the Hall & Woodhouse group. Since opening, it has become one of Basingstoke’s most popular watering holes, hosting a variety of events over the years.

More recently, this includes breaking the world record for the world’s longest quiz marathon by Richard, who also received a British Empire Medal to recognise his work raising tens of thousands of pounds for charity.

The partial roof collapse came amid a yellow weather warning for rain across much of England at the end of last week, with three millimetres of rain predicted – nearing 10 per cent of the year’s average rainfall in just two days.

In Basingstoke, this caused Basingstoke’s Household Waste Recycling Centre to be closed on Friday after heavy rainfall flooded Wade Road outside the facility. Some cars became stranded when their engines were flooded by the standing water.