Fire crews battle large blaze at village nightclub

Firefighters have been tackling a large blaze at a nightclub in a village.

The Park Hall Nightclub in Charnock Richard, Lancashire, has been "significantly damaged" in the fire, which began at about 21:30 BST on Tuesday, Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service (LFRS) said.

Ten fire engines were sent to the scene and managed to put out the fire before it spread to the attached hotel and other neighbouring businesses.

LFRS Group Manager Jonny Nottingham said foul play had not been ruled out as the potential cause, but all lines of inquiry were being investigated.

He added: "We are working with police to ascertain whether it had been caused through deliberate fire setting or other."

"We are going to do a thorough investigation to try and ascertain that cause and provide the owners of the hotel and the owners of the nightclub with some answers," he said.

Nottingham said the fire was contained quickly, but caused "significant damage" to the building.

He said: "There was quite a significant amount of fire loading and with the age of the building.

"It presented firefighters with some difficulties, however using open water sources from the local area, we managed to extinguish the fire fairly early on."

Investigators will remain on the scene until the early evening and the fire service urged people to avoid the area.

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