Pub fire leads to squatter probe

A fire which ripped through a derelict pub in Oxfordshire in which it is believed squatters had been staying is being treated as suspicious.

Smoke was seen billowing from the former Fox and Hounds pub in Abingdon Road in Oxford on Thursday evening.

There were reports people may have been trapped inside but firefighters found it to be empty.

A joint investigation between the fire service and police has now been set up to determine the cause.

Pete Cleary, incident commander for the fire service, said: "It is a derelict building with no electricity supply and no ignition sources so it is being treated as suspicious at the moment.

"Police have received intelligence that homeless people may have been staying inside illegally.

"Our fire crews worked extremely hard in hot and dangerous conditions to extinguish the fire and search for anyone trapped in the building. Thankfully nobody was inside."

Investigators were due to be at the site on Friday morning.