More of fire-ravaged cafe collapses after blaze

A cafe building destroyed in a fire last month has collapsed further, a council said.

About 50 firefighters tackled the fire at The Gorge Cafe in South Street, Dorchester, when it broke out on 9 December.

The Grade II listed building, where novelist Thomas Hardy trained as an architect, collapsed into the street and buildings on either side were severely damaged.

A Dorset Council spokesperson said South Street would stay shut until the building and those around it were made safe.

They added the authority had met the cafe building's owners and their representatives to analyse its structural stability.

The building had a stone plaque on its front wall in the centre of the first floor honouring Hardy.

It stated the novelist and poet trained at the building as an apprentice architect to John Hicks between 1856 and 1862.

It is thought it disintegrated in the fire and subsequent collapse.

The council spokesperson said the building's owners' structural engineers would complete survey reports and a programme of works would be agreed.

"We were concerned that the large chimney and party wall was going to fall and, indeed, this has happened within our safety cordon and the fallen material was entirely contained," the spokesperson added.

"Until the building is made safe, the road will remain closed until further notice, but Dorset Council remains committed to working with the owners and their representatives to resolve the matter as soon as possible."

No one was injured in the fire.

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