AN investigation is underway into the cause of blaze at a motorcycle garage in Birkenhead.

Firefighters were called to Marriott Motor Cycles Ltd in Oxton Road at 8.24pm last night.

On arrival crews found a large fire in the rear yard the garage. The fire has spread to the building.

Firefighters used an angle grinder to gain access to the building.

Nearby residents and businesses were advised to keep windows and doors closed.

The fire had spread to the workshop.

Oxton Road was closed to motorists as work to extinguish the fire continued.

Firefighters remained on scene throughout the night, with the final crew leaving at 6.20am.

An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out in due course.

Incident commander, group manager Tony Brown, said: "Crews responded quickly to this incident and discovered a large fire, confined mainly to the workshop of a well known Birkenhead motorcycle business.

"Crews tackled the fire internally and also externally, using our aerial appliance to cut away at the roof and prevent further fire spread.

"Our firefighters worked tirelessly in dealing with this incident in what can only be described as an extremely complex building.

"Thankfully, we were able to contain the fire mostly to the workshop area of the business, meaning that the large majority of the new and vintage motorcycles inside have remained unscathed.

"The business has been part of the Birkenhead community for a very long time and we are extremely pleased that we have been able to minimise the impact as much as possible.

"I'd also like to praise our fire control operators as they received a large number of calls in relation to this incident and to our emergency service colleagues who assisted in ensuring this incident came to a successful end."