A pub which has risen from the ashes of a massive fire will be at the centre of celebrations after a family's ownership reached a milestone.

Roger Newton, remembers visiting the Blue Ball, in Sidford, near Sidmouth in East Devon, when his grandfather was in charge, in the days when cows lived in barns at the back.

Now he runs it with his wife Linda, and the pair oversaw a massive rebuild after it burnt down as a result of a chimney fire in 2006.

But at 68, he is ready to call time on his career, and the lease is up for sale.

Yet he is not ready to go without a knees-up to celebrate 100 years of his family at the helm on February 24. It will feature entertainment and an old-fashioned menu which will include game and mutton.

Mr Newton said it would be sad to leave the pub which is steeped in family history.

"I remember visiting the pub in the late-40s, when there was just a tiny bar and a snug," he said. "In the area where we now have the lounge there were cow sheds.

"It was more like a farm than a pub."

The original building, which dates back to 1385, was thatched, and the couple maintained a thatched roof in the rebuild after the fire six years ago. It meant the building had to be completely demolished.

"It was absolutely devastating. I just couldn't believe it was happening, but you just have to get on with it," he said.

Mr Newton's great grandfather, John Bolt, was the first family licensee of the pub in February 1912, and it has passed down through four generations. The Newtons took it over from Roger's parents, Frank and Betty Newton, in 1970, after he returned from a stint in the Merchant Navy.

But now, he is looking for fresh blood to take over the lease.

"Unfortunately there's no-one in the family who wants to take it on," he said. "It's best that we let it go."