Major fire in Exeter city centre

Blazes centres on High Street and Cathedral Green

10am update: 

Council Leader Pete Edwards Said: 
“I like to thank the emergency services for all their hard work this morning in getting the fire contained. Their efforts, including the evacuation of the Clarence Hotel, has been remarkable.”
“ City Council Officers are helping those involved with any assistance that we can, including providing clothes. They have been doing a superb job since dawn this morning.”
 “The city has already responded in a positive way to challenging circumstances and will continue to do so.”

A 300-year-old building on Cathedral Green has suffered severe damage in a major fire in Exeter this morning.

Abode, formerly the Royal Clarence Hotel, was evacuated just after 5 o'clock when first reports came in of the blaze - which spread from the Waterstones bookstore next door.

At first, 10 fire engines were sent to the scene, but when news came that not everyone was accounted for, this was increased.

In total, 15 appliances and two aerial platforms attended from across Exeter, Mid and East Devon and Teignbridge. A drone has also been in use.

Around 100 firefighters were called to Cathedral Green.

Everyone at the hotel - staff and residents - were eventually reported to be safe. No one's been injured.

But it has been declared a major incident.

Large parts of the city, including Queen Street, South Street and the High Street are closed. There's no access to Cathedral Green. Traffic disruption is expected to be considerable throughout the morning.

Crews have been making steady progress, and some people are reporting that the fire's now out.