A BAR that was severely damaged by fire last year should escape demolition, the building’s managers said.

The roof of Franky’s Bar in Church Street, Darwen, was destroyed by a blaze in November that was treated as suspicious.

But a spokesman for Sterling Properties, the firm which looks after the building on behalf of the owners, said there were no plans to knock it down.

Health and safety manager Antony Hunt said: “As far as the building goes, we are not looking at anything drastic.

“We have been making the building safe and have fenced it off.

“The building will stay as it is for the foreseeable future.”

Dozens of firefighters spent more than two hours battling the fierce blaze that left the former Conservative club and bingo hall a shell.

The building had been empty since it was put on the market in April.