Blackpool club blaze: 50 moved from homes

Fifty people have been moved from their homes after a large fire broke out in central Blackpool.

Firefighters were alerted shortly after 04:00 GMT and found the ground floor of the Blackpool Trades Club on Chadwick Street well alight.

The two-storey building suffered extensive damage as the fire spread to the roof.

Eight fire crews are at the scene. The building is thought to have been empty at the time the fire broke out.

Cordons are in place as the building is unsafe, firefighters who are tackling the fire from outside the club said.

Lancashire Fire Service incident commander Simon Bone said: "It is going to be some time before we actually gain access."

Club member Larry McGoldrick, said he was "devastated" by what had happened to the building.

"I'm very sad, it was part of the community in Central Drive," he added.

"For years and years it was the trades club, the TUC club and everything and it was a great club to go and have a drink in with a good bunch of people."