Firecrews Fight Blaze At Bedford's Old Town Hall
8 February 2014, 12:21 | Updated: 8 February 2014, 12:22
Fire crews have been fighting a fire at the old Town Hall building in Bedford this morning.
Emergency services were called to the abandoned building in St Paul's Square after a call from a member of the public at 3.04am. It's believed the fire started on the second floor of the six-storey office block.
The 1960's concrete eyesore is part of the town centre redevelopment - and was waiting to be demolished.
A spokesman for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue says 6 fire engines including the aerial platform ladder are at the scene and fire crews are likely to remain in place through the afternoon.
(pictures from @BedsFire)
Update 1220
Relief crews were sent from Woburn, Shefford and Biggleswade fire stations to replace crews that had been tackling the fire since 3 a.m.
Throughout the morning, firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire in the stairwell and on several floors inside the building; and also from the aerial platform, outside.
Earlier road closures have now been lifted.
A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Our firefighters and control staff worked extremely hard throughout the night to contain the fire. It was a difficult and complex fire."
The Fire and Rescue Service began to scale down the incident from 11am, with 2 fire crews remaining at the scene well into the afternoon.