A SUSPECTED arsonist was arrested as a house was demolished and neighbours forced to flee their homes following a fire in Tarporley.

A 33-year-old local man is on police bail on suspicion of arson after a blaze ripped through the end house on a terraced block of four on Churchill Drive last Wednesday night.

A week later, neighbour Jill Jones still cannot return to her home because of smoke damage and has been re-homed by Weaver Vale Housing.

Fire engines from Tarporley and Chester stations rushed to the scene at 11.30pm on Wednesday, October 13.

When they saw the extent of the flames, crews called for assistance from another appliance and the hydraulic platform at Chester, along with an appliance from Winsford and evacuated adjoining properties. They were still dampening down with a hydraulic platform 12 hours later.

Peter Hicks, who lives two doors down, said: “A very loud explosion was heard by residents of Churchill Drive and Oathills Drive at approximately 11.40pm.

“I thought my wife’s son who was upstairs had dropped something.

“The property was empty – the people who own it sold up. They were living in a narrowboat.”

Fire investigation teams and police forensic investigators remained at the scene for several days looking for evidence of how the fire was started.

A structural engineer was then called out due to the dangerous condition of the property, but the house was eventually demolished on Friday.

Red Cross Victim support attended to comfort residents who had been forced out of their homes in the middle of the night. The electricity board and British Gas attended and an engineer from BT arrived to remove overhead cables to give the hydraulic platform room to work.

Spokeswoman Laura Johnson said: “We pushed the walls outwards so the fire service could investigate inside.

“We demolished it because it’s an issue of public safety, because the structure of that house is not safe.”

A 33-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson and is on police bail until December 9.