A WORKING men's club may have to be demolished after it was destroyed by a suspicious fire -- 40 minutes after it was locked up in good order.

The Lancashire Fire Service sniffer dog was at Daneshouse WMC in Nicholl Street, Burnley, today to try and pinpoint the cause.

Station Officer Steve Cope said: "The incident was suspicious, if for nothing else, but the degree of ferocity of the fire following the premises being left secure and in good order only 40 minutes earlier."

A demolition contractor at the scene said today: "It needs to come down and come down quick. It will cost more to rebuild than the building is worth."

The end-terrace club was locked up at 11.50pm last night, but when fire crews arrived shortly after 12.30am today the upper floor was well alight and in danger of spreading into the house next door.

Within minutes there was danger of parts of the upstairs walls and roof collapsing and the street was cordoned off.

Mr Cope said: "We managed to stop the fire from spreading across the street in one direction and to the house next door. A two man team was in the house loft for two hours protecting that property." The first floor of the club, which has a function room and bar, was destroyed. The ground floor, which includes a games room and bar, was severely damaged. The fire started near the staircase and spread quickly upwards.

Mr Cope said: "There was no sign of a break-in. In fact one of our problems was to get in and deal with the fire. It was impractical for us to enter at first floor level. The front wall and side gable were both leaning badly and there was a worry of the roof coming in.

"We were let in through the front door by the key holder.

"There was a danger of a collapse and certainly parts of the upstairs will need to be demolished."

The club opened in August 1899 in what was previously two houses. In 1965, it was extended through the purchase of a further part of the row and has about 180 members. Two historical war memorials at the club were rededicated following restoration.

When work was being done to restore a 70-year-old memorial an even older roll of honour was found behind it.

The war memorials were restored as part of the club's centenary celebrations after the top memorial fell into disrepair.

Past president Keith Park said: "This is terrible news. I hope that at least the memorials have been saved, it was always understood that if anything ever happened to the club they would be presented to Towneley Hall museum."