Fire damage at Beatles exhibition

An inquiry is being opened to establish the cause of the fire

A fire has damaged £10,000 worth of souvenir stock at a popular Liverpool tourist attraction.

Fire crews spent just under an hour tackling a blaze which broke out in the basement of the Beatles Story Exhibition in Albert Dock on Saturday.

The alarm was raised shortly before midday and the premises were evacuated.

Despite smoke and water damage - caused by the sprinkler system - a spokeswoman for the venue said the exhibition would be open to the public on Sunday.

"No-one has been injured and there has been no damage to any of the exhibits as the fire was contained in the stock room," she said.

"However, as well as ruining some stock, the fire also caused smoke damage and triggered the sprinkler system to go off in the reception which flooded the carpet.

"We've had salvage teams in and are getting everything back to normal so that we will be ready to open again on Sunday morning."

An investigation is being carried out into the cause of the fire at the exhibition, which charts the success of the Beatles from their early days in Hamburg right through to the break-up of the band and their subsequent solo careers.