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Derby fire: Smoke seen from Assembly Rooms car park | Derby fire: Smoke seen from Assembly Rooms car park |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A large fire has caused roads to be shut off in the centre of Derby. | A large fire has caused roads to be shut off in the centre of Derby. |
Firefighters were called to tackle the blaze on the top floor of the Assembly Rooms car park in Market Place shortly after 17:30 GMT. | |
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said 10 fire engines were at the scene and asked people to avoid the area because of road closures. | |
Witnesses have reported seeing "large, thick, black plumes of smoke". | Witnesses have reported seeing "large, thick, black plumes of smoke". |
Many roads around the city centre have been closed including, Full Street, Derwent Street, Corporation Street and St Alkmund's Way. | |
A fire service representative said officers would be at the scene for a "considerable amount of time" dealing with the fire which looks to have started in the plant room at the top of the car park. | |
BBC Radio Derby reporter Wesley Malin, who is at the scene, said debris could be seen falling from the car park. | |
Derbyshire Police said they had widened the cordon with the danger of vehicles in the car park "exploding". | Derbyshire Police said they had widened the cordon with the danger of vehicles in the car park "exploding". |
Superintendent Gary Parkin said officers had evacuated nearby buildings and asked people to be patient while they worked to get the city centre "back to normality as soon as possible". | |
Derby Live confirmed that dancer Anton Du Beke's show, which had been scheduled for the Assembly Rooms on Friday night, had been cancelled. | Derby Live confirmed that dancer Anton Du Beke's show, which had been scheduled for the Assembly Rooms on Friday night, had been cancelled. |
Pete Meakin said performances over the weekend had also been cancelled. | |
"It looks very worrying indeed," he added. | |
"Fortunately we know everyone got out of the Assembly Rooms building and we are now ringing around the audiences to make sure they don't come into the city centre." | |
Will Hives, 36, who lives nearby was in a restaurant when he noticed the smoke, and said: "You couldn't see flames at first, just plumes of black smoke. | |
"It spread really quickly. Within 10 minutes it was really alight and was sweeping across the whole building." |