A COUPLE returned home after a day out with friends to find their house had been gutted by fire and most of their belongings had been destroyed.

"We are numb - we are standing in other peoples' clothes," said a distraught Steve Jenkins.

Mr Jenkins, his wife Miyoshi and their neighbours were this week 'picking up the pieces' after a blaze which left the occupants of three adjoining households at Yarpole temporarily homeless.

"We are all devastated," said pensioner Sandra Cresswell surveying her damaged furniture, waterlogged carpets and collapsing ceilings at 400-year-old Spring Cottage at one end of the row.

"This cottage has belonged to our family for many years, it was my grandmother's home.

"It had only recently been re-decorated - it was all done - that's what's so devastating."

Fire fighters from Kingsland, Leominster, Leintwardine and Tenbury Wells battling the inferno in Yarpole village centre last Thursday were hampered when wasps swarmed from the blazing roof.

A Leintwardine fire fighter who reacted badly to a sting was taken to hospital by ambulance but was later discharged.

The fire, which is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, spread through roof spaces when all the residents were away.

Mrs Cresswell and husband George, on a caravan holiday with family members in North Wales, were horrified to receive a telephone call telling them "your house is on fire".

They arrived home after a three-hour journey to find four fire engines and firfighters still at the scene.

The family at the other end of the row, Johnnie Mountford, his wife Julie and their three sons aged eight, five and one, received the crisis call while they were on holiday in Brittany. They returned on the first ferry to a scene of wreckage.

"The fire brigade did a good job to save the house but our first floor is trashed," said Mr Mountford, a chartered surveyor.

He had to go to work in jeans and T-shirt before going out to buy a suit.

"Our main problem is we are desperate for somewhere to live. There is a great shortage of accommodation."

Two of the boys attend Orleton Primary School and the family is staying with relatives at Richard's Castle while they search for a place. Repairs at their Yarpole home, West End, could take up to six months.

"In comparison we're lucky - our neighbours lost everything."

Steve and Miyoshi Jenkins had been out with friends looking at motorcycles, as Steve had recently passed his test.

They returned home at dusk to find friends waiting at their gate to give them the bad news.

Mr Jenkins, an engineer, said he was deeply grateful to firefighters from his native Kingsland, who were first on the scene, and the other crews.

He praised their efforts in taking time to salvage what items they could by moving things to his garage.

The Yarpole community had also been "absolutely wonderful" in rallying round to offer help.

"We are trying to pick up the pieces. We have lost sentimental things like photographs.

"The most depressing part was searching the ashes for my wife's jewellery," said Mr Jenkins.

The couple, whose home will have to be largely rebuilt, were given temporary accommodation by a family nearby.

Sandra and George Cresswell have also found refuge in the village at the home of Mrs Cresswell's sister Dot Adams.

Repairs on the damaged homes are expected to take about six months.