Smoke causes new police HQ alert

This picture was taken from Old Colwyn on Tuesday

The headquarters of North Wales Police have been evacuated for the second time in two days.

The ground floor of the Colwyn Bay building was filled with smoke in the latest incident on Wednesday.

Firefighters dealt with the smoke after water seeped into a transformer. Around 120 staff were already working from other offices after Tuesday's fire.

The force said they had established the roof fire which caused "substantial damage" was started accidentally.

A spokesperson said the fire is believed to have involved a blowtorch being used by one of the contractors and insulation boards on site.

The building, which was opened in 1974, is currently being refurbished.

North Wales Fire and Rescue said Wednesday's incident was quickly dealt with.

Temporary locations

Policing across north Wales is said to be unaffected by both incidents.

A joint police and fire service investigation continues into Tuesday's blaze and a clean-up operation is underway.

Around 120 staff have moved to temporary locations in Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and St Asaph, but operational policing is continuing as normal.

Police officers and staff were working with consultants to assess the extent of the damage, a spokeswoman said.

The fire at North Wales Police HQ on Tuesday Your pictures of the fire

One contractor working at the building had to be treated for smoke inhalation following the blaze.

The building was evacuated for a second time after smoke began billowing from a water-damaged transformer.

No-one is reported injured in the latest incident which was dealt with by two fire service teams wearing breathing apparatus.

Assistant chief constable Ian Shannon had said earlier: "Despite the upheaval operational policing is continuing as normal."

Firefighters used two aerial platforms to fight Tuesday's blaze and crews from Abergele, Conwy, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay were involved.

People in the Min y Don area of Old Colwyn were urged to keep their windows closed because of the smoke.

'Largely unaffected'

The blaze began at 1130 BST and burned for three hours before firefighters were able to extinguish it.

The injured worker was involved in the refurbishment of the premises.

Contractors had been working on the roof during the morning.

Chief constable Richard Brunstrom, who was working out of the force area on Tuesday, said he was pleased everyone was evacuated safely.

The force said damage to parts of the HQ was "substantial" and most of the older parts would be out of action "for a number of weeks".

The first task would be to make the roof from which smoke and flames billowed watertight.