Flames ripped through a historic department store building in Edinburgh after a fire broke out.
Firefighters are tackling the blaze on Edinburgh’s Princes Street after the alarm was raised at about 2.50am.
Footage shows an inferno engulfing the old Debenhams building on the famous shopping street.
Seven fire engines and three specialist appliances remain at the scene.
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There have been no reports of injuries.
Locals lamented the fate of the iconic building.
Graham Reed, 59, from Edinburgh, said: ‘It’s such a shame.
‘It’s an iconic building, and it’s such a shame that yet another one’s gone up in flames on Princes Street.
‘It’s just a shame to see it because we lost a couple, there was one down in Jenners as well that went up in flames a few years back.
‘It’s a shame it happens.’
The fire threw rush hour tram and bus services into chaos.
Tram services in the area have been disrupted and some bus services have been diverted.
Edinburgh Trams said that trams are running a part route from Edinburgh Airport to the West End only.
It said that ticket acceptance is in place with ScotRail between Edinburgh Gateway and Edinburgh Waverley (St Andrew Square) and on Lothian Buses between the West End and Newhaven.
The department store closed at the site in April 2021 following a fire on the building’s ground floor.
Plans have been introduced to turn the Victorian building into a luxury hotel.
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