RETIRED Eric and Peggy Lofthouse were killed when an inferno tore through their home at Frampton, near Dorchester.

More than 50 firefighters tackled the blaze in the detached house, in the Southover part of the village, but the couple were found dead together inside.

Villagers today told of their shock at the death of the popular couple. Witnesses described how windows exploded, tiles crashed to the ground and flames tore through the roof at the peak of the fire.

A trio of neighbours - pensioner Irene Green, farmer John Elliott and his wife Lesley - rushed to the house with fire extinguishers but were beaten back.

Mrs Green, 61, who lives opposite and raised the alarm, said: "It was horrific.

"We went round the back to the French windows, which were slightly ajar, but there was no way we could get in.

"The whole staircase was alight and there was nothing we could do."

Former ICI research chemist Dr Lofthouse, 85, and Mrs Lofthouse, 80, had two sons and retired to the village from Liverpool in 1974.

Villagers paid tribute to them as a generous couple who kept themselves to themselves, but held an annual drinks party on Christmas morning.

More than 50 firefighters and half-a-dozen crews from Maiden Newton, Dorchester, Weymouth and Yeovil were called to the blaze at 9.30am yesterday.

They had to dodge tiles and unstable walls as they tried to fight the flames.

Assistant Divisional Officer Colin Chapman, who was in charge at the incident, said the cause of the blaze was being investigated and that West Dorset District Council officers provided advice on the building's safety.

Michael Johnson, who lives nearby, said: "It was a very intense fire.

"When I got into the garden there were tiles flying off the roof and window panes cracking.

"You could see flames in the bedrooms through the windows and the fire seemed strongest at the end where their bedroom was. There was no hope of getting inside."

Donna Hennell, who was the Lofthouses' next-door neighbour, thought the couple's gardener was burning leaves when she first saw smoke.

She said: "He is often round there, but when I went into my back garden I could see it was black smoke so I ran round to the house.

"There were smoke and flames all coming out from the roof and you could see flames on the staircase through the windows, so I ran back and phoned the fire brigade."

She added: "We were always speaking across the garden fence. We got on well and I shall miss them."

The Lofthouses' terrier dog Shandy is being looked after by Mrs Green after it fled the house.

Mr Lofthouse and his wife were once involved in the village's Thursday Club, which met for regular lunches, but they also enjoyed meals out.

Mrs Lofthouse once played at junior Wimbledon, but also used to work for her husband and as a nurse.

Retired farmer Kim Elliott, 71, whose son and daughter-in-law rushed to the house, said: "The Lofthouses supported the village well and were a very pleasant couple.

"We are all in shock. The poor dears, I just hope they didn't suffer."

Mrs Green added: "They were very good neighbours. It has been terrible."

The house was built in 1947 by a farmer and was used as a farmhouse before it was sold, and eventually bought by Mr and Mrs Lofthouse in 1974.