A DEVASTATED couple who recently moved to north Wales have been forced to “start from scratch again” after practically all their possessions were lost in a terrible house fire.

Columns of smoke and fire were seen billowing from a terraced house in Llanbedrog on Saturday morning as a blaze gutted the home of Michelle Le Roux and Jason Underwood, who moved to the area just months ago.

The fire is currently under investigation by the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service but started under “very strange” circumstances in an almost empty spare room, according to the shocked renters.

Despite terrible fire damage, nobody was hurt in the inferno although Jason and Michelle’s pet dog Duke, two, had to be rescued from the fire by a valiant neighbour.

Jason, 28, who is renowned for his storming cricket performances for Pwllheli Club, and Michelle, 24, both moved from South Africa a year ago to further Jason’s sporting career.

Despite only moving “with the clothes on their back”, the couple relocated to Llanbedrog in April and both worked hard to set up their new life and pay rent.

But following Saturday’s blaze, the distraught pair have been left with nothing and a fund-raising cmpaign has been launched because they were uninsured.

Read the full story in today’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News