City centre blaze 'was arson'

Firefighters from across the city attended the scene

A major fire which caused millions of pounds of damage in Belfast city centre was arson, police have said.

The blaze, which broke out on Thursday, caused massive damage to a number of premises in Royal Avenue.

More than 100 firefighters took several hours to contain the blaze in a four-storey building.

It contains Waterstone's bookstore, Goldsmith's jewellers, and the Northern Ireland bureau of the Press Association.

Forensic scientists examined the site to establish how the fire started.

They had been delayed for several days because the building was deemed too unsafe to examine.

A police spokesman said on Monday: "Officially, we are now treating it as arson."

City Centre Manager Joanne Jennings said it was a worrying development.

"It is certainly not what we want to see happening in our city centre," she said.

"There is a lot of people in the city during the day, also in terms of the whole disruption it has caused and, I think, the whole perception of our city. "

Conservation architects have examined the listed buildings affected by the fire, and are to submit a report.

But it is thought no major re-building work will be required.

Thousands of books, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, were also destroyed in the fire.