Clear-up to begin at fire-gutted collapsed cafe

About 50 firefighters tackled the blaze as it tore through the cafe on 9 December shortly after 03:30 GMT

A clear-up is set to begin at a cafe destroyed and left strewn across a street following a fire.

The blaze at the Grade II listed Gorge Cafe in South Street, Dorchester, Dorset, broke out on 9 December, shortly after 03:30 GMT.

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

Dorset Council has confirmed work is due to get under way to deal with the fallen debris and put up safety scaffolding.

The entire section of the pedestrianised shopping street has been sealed off since the fire over fears of further collapses

The authority said contractors were currently drawing up a plan for the work which was expected to start "sometime next week, subject to set-up and weather conditions".

Once the work on the cafe site is complete further scaffolding will be put up on the neighbouring buildings, and timber hoarding rebuilt to create a new pedestrian access.

The council added due to the need to "risk assess the buildings daily" a more detailed timescale had not yet been set out.

The cafe was left a charred wreck following the fire

About 50 firefighters tackled the blaze that swept through the cafe and spread to the roofs of neighbouring buildings.

Since the fire, a stretch of South Street near the burnt-out building has remained cordoned off.

No-one was injured in the fire.

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.