UPDATE: Littlehampton boat yard fire destroys building

The fire destroyed a large storage building in the heart of the complex of boat yards on the west bank of the river at Rope Walk.

Fire crews from Littlehampton, Arundel, East Preston, Burgess Hill and Worthing tackled the flames. A huge pall of thick, black smoke billowed over the harbour area and could be seen from miles away.

By early evening the fire and rescue service was scaling down its presence at the scene of the fire, although some crews remained to dampen down the remains of the wrecked building, measuring 40m by 20m, and used for storage and as an office/archive.

An investgiation into the cause of the fire is expected to start later when the site has been made safe. There were several explosions involving gas cylinders during the afternoon.

It’s thought the fire may have started in drums of waste oil being stored in a yard. Burning oil then escaped and ran across the yard, setting fire to the building.

An aerial platform from Worthing was used to knock down the flames from above and contain the fire to the one building. No other premises were affected and no one was injured, although people living and working in the area were evacuated for a couple of hours.