ARSONISTS are believed to be responsible for a fire which ripped through a Worcester pub in the early hours of this morning.

An estimated £40,000 damage has been caused to The Goodfellows pub, in Lowesmoor - three months after it received a facelift.

Fire crews were called to the pub at 4am to deal with the blaze, which is thought to have started on a downstairs sofa.

"It was a difficult fire to contend with," said Sub Officer Richard Jordan, of Worcester Fire Station.

"It was a serious fire and it seems like it had been developing for quite some time. When we got the initial call there was smoke coming out from all over the building and the owner did not know where the fire had started."

A team of around a dozen firefighters spent more than an hour quelling the flames.

"It is a long narrow pub so this made our task more difficult," added Sub Officer Jordan.

Owner of the pub, Stuart Redfern, said he had just spent £20,000 giving the premises a facelift.

"It's only been three months since it was refurbished and now it has been totally devastated," he said. "It had built up into something quite special."

But he vowed the pub would be back in business.

"Things like this can happen in life and the pub will be even better when it is refurbished," he added.

Police said they were investigating the case.

"We have arrested a person in connection with the fire and we are treating it as suspicious," a police spokeswoman confirmed.