AN ESTATE agents and a bookmakers were demolished yesterday following an intense fire in Wirral.

At its height 50 firefighters tackled the blaze at David Pluck and Bradshaw Farnham and Lea on Woodchurch Road, Prenton.

People in nearby homes and flats were evacuated at 3.30am yesterday as the demolition started.

A stretch of the busy Woodchurch Road was cordoned off with traffic diversions in place and remained closed last night.

An investigation into the devastating blaze is under way.

Estate agent Paul Lea was shocked to discover their building had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Mr Lea said: “When I heard that there had been a fire at David Pluck I rang the fire service to see if they needed keys into our building.

“They told me David Pluck had been demolished but that our building hadn’t been affected.

“I thought I should pop down anyway and see what had happened.

“I got a bit of a shock to see a pile of rubble where our shop had been. The three of us have been busy making arrangements for today’s business.

“We plan to open up a temporary premises along Woodchurch Road while we discuss what to do on the old site. We may rebuild it.

“Lucky we back up all of our systems so no information has been lost and we can operate anywhere.

“What we are worried about the most is the fact that all of the keys were in the building so it is likely we are going to have to change quite a few locks.”

Station officer Paul Murphy was the first senior officer on site. He said: “The fire had really taken hold on the first floor as we tried to get to it. The crews with breathing apparatus had to cut through metal to get into the building as it was very secure.

“It was an extremely intense fire. The men had to work in extreme circumstances.

“Because the building had offices on the top two floors the paper provided an accelerant for the fire as did a ruptured gas main.