'We tried to stop fire spreading down the street'

A firefighter has described how crews battled to stop a "challenging" fire in a cafe tearing through a terrace.

Antony Bholah, group manager at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue (DWFRS), was in charge of 50 firefighters as fire engulfed the historic Gorge Cafe in South Street, Dorchester on Monday.

With the front of the cafe collapsed into the street the fire was seen sweeping along roofs.

He said crews were sent in "through windows to cut in fire breaks to try and stop the fire spreading down the street."

Mr Bholah said: "In the early stages it was a really challenging job as it was quite windy.

"It was driving the fire towards Trinity Street where there were a number of businesses that we were concerned about.... we had to put a lot of effort in to try and stop the fire spreading."

The historic Grade II listed building where novelist Thomas Hardy trained as an architect has been left a charred wreck after the fire.

A stone plaque, inserted in the wall on the first floor, stated the novelist and poet trained as an apprentice architect to John Hicks between 1856-1862.

It is thought to have been completely disintegrated in the fire and collapse.

"It's really difficult at this stage to work out how the fire started," Mr Bholah said.

"There will be a fire investigation process that will start very shortly once the building is safe and we'll be able to look at the cause of the fire.... hopefully we should be able to establish what happened."

The buildings either side of the fire are still at risk of collapse so a stretch of South Street has been fenced off.

Dorset Council said the closure will be in place for the foreseeable future.

No-one was injured in the fire.

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