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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National

Greenock fire: Huge blaze breaks out in town centre and funeral home forced to move bodies as flames spread

Greenock fire: onlookers shared images of the huge blaze on social media (Picture: Fenwick 47/Twitter)

Firefighters have been tackling a huge building blaze in a town centre in Scotland.

The large fire, in Greenock, is thought to be at a furniture shop and broke out at about 5pm on Thursday.

Dramatic images posted on social media showed flames tearing through the roof of the building as smoke billowed into the night sky.

A funeral home nearby was forced to move bodies to another premises as fire crews tackled the blaze.

Greenock fire: onlookers shared images of the huge blaze on social media (Fenwick 47/Twitter)

A spokesman for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "Operations Control mobilised a number of fire engines to the town's Jamaica Street, where firefighters were met by a large and well developed fire.

"Crews currently remain on the scene working to extinguish the fire."

Flames ripped through the roof of the building as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control (James Semple)

In a post on their Facebook page, Green Oak Funeral Services said that their landlines were unavailable but "all loved ones were being cared for in our Port Glasgow premises".

At around 9pm, police announced that several roads around the area would remain closed into the night. The fire remained alight at this time.

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