A building which caught fire in Preston city centre has been razed by demolition crews.
Work was suspended last week after it was feared a missing homeless man had been inside the building when it caught fire last Tuesday.
But the 37-year-old was found safe at the weekend, paving the way for demolition crews to resume their work and tear down the fire-wrecked building.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been completed but Lancashire Police say there is “no update at this time”. The force has not said when it will make the outcome of the investigation public.
The site has since been handed to Preston City Council, but the authority has yet to comment on the fire or how they will deal with the aftermath.
Work was suspended last week after it was feared a missing homeless man had been inside the building when it caught fire last Tuesday.
But the 37-year-old was found safe at the weekend, paving the way for demolition crews to resume their work and tear down the fire-wrecked building.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been completed but Lancashire Police say there is “no update at this time”. The force has not said when it will make the outcome of the investigation public.
The site has since been handed to Preston City Council, but the authority has yet to comment on the fire or how they will deal with the aftermath.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, I'm Lancashire Post reporter Matthew at the scene of last Tuesday's fire in Church
00:05Street here in Preston. Just bringing you an update this morning, just trying to focus
00:11in a bit more. This is the aftermath of the scene of the fire now, as you can see. It's
00:18mostly been demolished now. There's not much of anything left at all, just a pile of rubble
00:25and the charred remains of the neighbouring building which also caught fire. But it's
00:30left a huge gaping hole in Church Street which remains closed off to traffic whilst demolition
00:37continues this afternoon. We are awaiting a statement from Preston City Council who
00:43have taken back control of the site from the emergency services after it was established
00:49that a missing man who was feared to have died in the building fire and subsequent scenes
00:58there, he is safe now. Police have established that he is safe and well. So with no casualties,
01:04no fatalities as a result of this latest fire in Preston City Centre. So now it's back in
01:10the hands of Preston City Council and we are expected to hear more from the authority today
01:15about their plans for the site and the reopening of Church Street to traffic as well. So we'll
01:20be bringing you more updates as we get them. Thank you.