LIVERPOOL council is being forced to protect Ringo Starr’s former city home from souvenir hunters who are taking it apart brick by brick.

In recent weeks, fans hoping to get their hands on a piece of history have removed masonry from around the windows and door of the Madryn Street property.

The council has added extra grilles to the building to stop any more pieces being salvaged from the house, which Starr lived in until he was five years old.

It is due for demolition under the Pathfinder Housing Market Renewal scheme, which aims to demolish sub-standard Victorian terraced houses and replace them with new affordable homes. The house has become the focal point of the debate raging around whether nor the “Welsh Streets” houses should be demolished at all or renovated and saved for future generations.

Chairman of the Save Madryn Street (SMS) Society, Philip Coppell, said: “It is encouraging to see that the council has taken steps to halt the activities of the souvenir hunters. Fans from all over the world have objected to the demolition and we are still hopeful that we can persuade the city to revoke the demolition order.”