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Liverpool's Littlewoods Pools building engulfed by fire Liverpool's Littlewoods Pools building engulfed by fire
(about 5 hours later)
Firefighters are battling a huge blaze at the Littlewoods Pools building, one of Liverpool's most famous landmarks. A huge blaze has destroyed part of the Littlewoods Pools building, one of Liverpool's most famous landmarks.
Nine fire crews are at the scene of the blaze, which has extended upwards from the first floor of the building, Merseyside Fire Service said. The roof and upper floor of one wing of the "iconic" structure were feared to have been lost after the fire took hold shortly before 20:00 BST on Sunday.
There are no reports of any injuries. Merseyside Fire Service said there had been no injuries and there were no concerns over the building's integrity.
The five-storey art deco structure on Edge Lane was built in 1938 and was part of the Sir John Moores' Littlewoods empire but has stood empty since 2003. The five-storey art deco structure on Edge Lane was built in 1938 but had been empty since 2003.
However, just over 12 weeks ago plans were announced for a major new complex at the site, including film and TV studios in the building. Just over 12 weeks ago plans were announced for a major new complex at the site, including film and TV studios - although the part of the building earmarked for the studios was unaffected by the fire.
The fire service said it was first called at 19:52 BST and were on scene within four minutes, but found the roof well alight. The deal, signed with developer Capital & Centric, intends to create a £50m northern base for Twickenham Studios, with the creation of hundreds of jobs.
Crews using breathing apparatus have entered the building to tackle the blaze across an area measuring 200m by 100m and two jets are being used to douse the flames from the outside.
Hoardings which covered the building's windows have been removed to aid the fighting of the fire, which has spread to about 40% of the building, the fire service said.
It said it had received close to 60 calls from members of the public regarding the fire.
The building had recently been sold with a plan to redevelop the site to become a major film and television studio hub, creating 350 jobs.
Twickenham Studios has signed a deal with developer Capital & Centric to create a £50m northern base at the site.
The company has been in talks with Merseyside Fire Service, Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council about how best to tackle the fire.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson tweeted: "Absolutely heartbreaking news that the iconic Littlewoods Building is ablaze, looks pretty bad at this stage, let's hope and pray it's salvageable."Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson tweeted: "Absolutely heartbreaking news that the iconic Littlewoods Building is ablaze, looks pretty bad at this stage, let's hope and pray it's salvageable."
A police cordon is in place and the blaze is ongoing. Adam Higgins, co-founder of developers Capital & Centric, said the blaze had started in the roof of the west wing, which is known for its distinctive clock tower.
Shortly after 22:00, the fire service reported large plumes of black smoke coming from the building and advised people living in the vicinity to keep windows and doors closed. He told the BBC: "So far all the walls remain intact and obviously they are the bits that are really iconic to people from the city.
"The building's hugely important to us and to everyone in Liverpool. We announced some big plans about three months ago which would bring in Twickenham film studios to the city and to this building in particular.
"I'm very hopeful that we still will be able to do that because the walls still seem to be intact and, providing we can keep them up, we can still very much continue with our plans.
"Twickenham are going into the east wing, the building next door, an other companies will be moving into the west wing which has been on fire this evening."
Mr Higgins said investigators had been unable to enter the building due to the collapse and the cause of the blaze was unknown.
The fire service said it was called at 19:52 BST and was on the scene within four minutes, but firefighters were confronted with a "significant" blaze across an area measuring 200m by 100m.
It was brought under control by 01:30 as crews managed to prevent the spread of the fire beyond the one wing.
The building was part of Sir John Moores' Littlewoods empire, which included the weekly football pools coupons played by millions, as well as the high street stores around the country.
A number of redevelopment plans had been discussed for the site in recent years but had fallen through.