RESIDENTS have spoken of their shock and sadness after a property fire has left a house in West Moors in a state of ruin.

The blaze broke out at the property in The Avenue on Tuesday afternoon shortly before 1pm.

Visible damage could be seen yesterday at the detached house.

The roof of the property had been burned to pieces and a section of the first floor had fallen through.

Black scorching lined the remaining roof tiles, window frames and interior walls, with a police cordon around the house and officers on the scene preventing access to the premises yesterday.

A resident of The Avenue, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I got back around 2pm. The fire was still well alight, but the firefighters had it under control at that stage.

“I had to be escorted to my house by a police officer after parking my car down the road. The scene all felt chaotic with all the fire engines in the road.

“It’s very upsetting to look at now. The woman who lives there has lost everything. She would have gone out in the morning as normal, but come back to her home and she had nothing left.

“The whole thing is just awful and terribly sad. She will have so much to sort now and have lost so much.”

Another resident said they heard crackling and saw smoke before witnessing the full extent of the blaze, which ended up engulfing the whole property and also damaging the guttering on a neighbouring house.

Around 25 firefighters from five stations in Dorset and Hampshire as well as Westbourne’s aerial ladder platform were on the scene tackling the blaze.

A crew from Christchurch mobilised in the evening to support the fire investigation and deal with hot spots, while a crew from Ferndown attended yesterday morning to carry out a reinspection.

The fire investigation is ongoing and is part of a wider criminal investigation by Dorset Police.

Detection dogs from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service supported the assessments. Ambulance crews were also in attendance while the fire raged on and treated a man at the scene for smoke inhalation.

A 55-year-old man from Three Legged Cross has been charged with arson with intent/reckless as to whether life was endangered and harassment.

He is due to appear at Poole Magistrates’ Court this on Thursday morning.