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Fire-ravaged cafe not safe for fire investigators

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images Gaping holes in roofs of terrace after fire - rubble from the building in centre spills onto street.Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images Firefighters and engines in a street - hoses spray a building and piles of bricks can be seen across the street.Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
The building where the Victorian novelist and poet Thomas Hardy worked as an apprentice architect has been gutted by fire.
The blaze on Dorchester's South Street swept through The Gorge Cafe and spread to the roofs of neighbouring properties.

An investigation into the cause of a fire at a cafe left a charred wreck is yet to start as the building and those neighbouring it are not safe.

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

The building, where novelist Thomas Hardy trained as an architect, collapsed into the street and those either side were severely damaged.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said due to the scale of damage "it has not been safe for us to carry out a fire investigation".

The area in front of the buildings affected by fire remains fenced off as they are still at risk of collapse.

No injuries were reported, but a number of local residents were moved to a safe place as the fire engulfed the cafe.

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

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

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