Fire ravaged derelict buildings torn down (From Gazette)

Fire ravaged derelict buildings torn down

12:16pm Tuesday 25th September 2012 in News By Helen Barnett

DERELICT buildings ravaged by fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning will be torn down.

Tendring Council made the call to a row of shops near the former Starlings site in Main Road, Dovercourt, after discovering the building was a danger to the public and risked collapse.

Fire ravaged the buildings at around 2am on Tuesday, September 25, and it took six fire engines one and a half hours to extinguish.

Scaffolding supporting one of the shops, which also caught fire last year, is now redundant after the roof and part of the wall collapsed from the blaze.

Tendring Council arranged for part of the road to be closed off to traffic to push what is left of the structure back onto the site. Drivers travelling from Dovercourt to Harwich must use the A120.

Work has already been carried out to locate and isolate the electricity supply to a former barber’s premises.

Pam Sambridge, Tendring’s cabinet member for technical services, said the council will work closely with Essex Highways to close off those sections of road necessary while the contractors make the area safe.

“This is the second fire at Starlings and there was not a great deal left to burn,” she said.

“However, we will make an assessment of what needs to be done to ensure the site is made safe.”