A derelict pub was ravaged by fire overnight.
The inferno ripped through The Croft on Halton Lodge Avenue in Runcorn and was reported to emergency services at 1.23am.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service deployed nine appliances to the scene: two from Runcorn, two from Penketh, and one each from Widnes, Warrington, Lymm, Ellesmere Port, Winsford, and an aerial ladder platform from Lymm.
These included three relief crews.
One fire engine plus a police car remained at the scene when the Echo visited this morning.
Hazard warning tape sealed most of the perimeter of the site, which smelled of damp soot.
The pub had suffered substantial damaged and its remains were badly charred.
Cheshire fire service said the former alehouse was “well alight” when crews arrived.
They set up a water supply and cordon before beginning to douse the flames with three hose jets.
Four fire engines initially attended, soon increased to six.
Police shut the road and Scottish Power isolated the electricity supply.
While one team of firefighters hosed the fire from outside, two colleagues in breathing apparatus removed external floors and covered windows.
Before the blaze the pub had become a dumping ground for litter and fly-tipping.
A fire service spokesperson said: “All of the security screening on the building’s windows was removed.
“An aerial ladder platform ensured that firefighters could assess the extent of the fire from above.
“They established that most of the fire was in the roof space.
“Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus on the aerial ladder platform removed tiles from the roof of the building.
“With the fire starting to be under control, two fire engines left the scene.”
They added: “The aerial ladder platform enabled firefighters to tackle the fire from above, using a hose reel jet.
“It also enabled them to strip tiles off the roof on the single-storey half of the building involved in the fire.
“The fire did not spread to the second storey part of the building.
“With firefighters having fought the fire through the night and brought it under control, there is now just one fire engine in attendance.
“Firefighters are currently using a thermal imaging camera to look for hotspots.
“Hotspots are being damped down with a hose reel jet.
“The road has been reopened by the police and Scottish Power has confirmed that the electricity supply to the building is isolated.”
The pub has been derelict for years.
Campaign group The Taxpayers’ Alliance revealed in 2015 that Halton Borough Council owned the freehold on the pub at that time.
Plans were filed last year to demolish the pub and build assisted-living flats but the application was withdrawn.
