THE unstable remains of an iconic Barrow building ravaged in a mammoth inferno are being removed brick by brick with the structure under serious threat of being demolished.

An investigation has been launched by Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service to ascertain how the House of Lords in Abbey Road, Barrow, became engulfed in flames shortly before 9pm on Wednesday night.

More than 12 fire engines from stations across the county were called to tackle the blaze as hose reel and water main jets were used in a bid to stop the fire from spreading.

Firefighters battled long into the night but were unable to prevent a significant amount of structural damage being caused as the listed building, which used to be a working men's club in its heyday, was left virtually destroyed.

Roger Exley, Barrow station manager for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, confirmed that a preliminary fire investigation has taken place.

A further investigation will take place over the next couple of days with Mr Exley keen to talk to the owner of the establishment in a bid to find out what caused the blaze.

The rear wall of the structure was also removed carefully brick by brick by demolition contractors as it was deemed too dangerous to remove it by way of machinery.

On the night of the blaze, residents in Hawke Street were evacuated from their homes by police over fears that the wall could collapse.

They were only allowed to return to their homes on Thursday afternoon with some having to spend the night at a makeshift refuge centre which was set up at The Forum in Barrow.

Mr Exley admitted that he doesn't yet know whether the Victorian building will be demolished but believes that it is "extremely unstable."

He said: "Once the wall has been taken down a decision will be made by building control to work out whether the rest of the building will be taken down or whether they will try and maintain what's left of this historical building.

"I can't say at the moment whether it will be demolished. From my point of view, it is an extremely unstable building but it's not my decision to make."

Bar Conti, which is connected to the House of Lords, amazingly avoided the flames thanks to the efforts of heroic firefighters.

Mr Exley added: "It suffered severe smoke damage. It is waterlogged and there is some structural damage too but in realistic terms firefighters did not give the flames a chance to to get into that part of the building."

READ MORE: THE AFTERMATH: Building set to be demolished after huge fire devastates iconic Barrow landmark

Barrow's fire crew didn't leave the scene of the blaze until approximately 3pm yesterday - 18 hours after they were initially called out.

Checks were then carried out every half an hour to see whether there had been any change to the structure of the building.

With the building still at a serious risk of collapsing onto the roadside, Mr Exley urged people to stay outside of police cordons with a section of Abbey Road set to be closed until Saturday at the earliest.

The cordon, which has been set up between the junction at Ramsden Square Roundabout and the junction at Bath Street, is in place to allow National Grid to carry out essential work following the blaze.

Mr Exley said: "We want people to steer well clear. The area is extremely dangerous and we don't want any young people hanging around the building at night.

"We don't want people in the area until this comes to a conclusion.

"It was extremely difficult to deal with in the beginning and crews worked extremely well to save one part of the property and make sure that no one was hurt by a potentially serious fire. Also none of the firefighters suffered any injuries either.

"The first pump was there within minutes and then we got the next set of appliances from Ulverston. The crews mobilised straight away and they were en-route within minutes of the call.

"I want to applaud all the firefighters that worked hard to save other properties, including the Nan Tait."

Cumbria Police are also seeking witnesses as they urged anyone with footage of the blaze to get in touch with them immediately.

Detective Inspector Helen Ellis said: "We are keen to speak to anyone who was in the Bar Continental area yesterday just before, or at the time, the fire started. We are also keen to speak to anyone who was inside Bar Continental who has any information that may be of use.

"We are also appealing to anyone who captured footage on their mobile phones to get in touch, as it may help our investigation."