City centre in lockdown with locals told 'stay indoors' as huge blaze breaks out

A huge fire in Plymouth has put the city centre on lockdown with locals being ordered to stay indoors.

Firefighters and police raced to the scene on Old Nations Club in Union Street after the blaze broke out. The road was closed with Devon and Cornwall Police remaining to tackle the fire.

"Fire crews are tackling a large fire at a comercial building in Union Street, Plymouth," Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said in a post shared to X/Twitter. "Please keep your windows and doors closed and avoid the area if you live nearby as there is a lot of smoke coming from the building."

Eight appliances were at the scene along with specialist equipment, according to Mirror affiliate PlymouthLive. Images taken from the scene showed the blaze ripping through the property with huge flames burning through the windows.

A massive plume of smoke could be seen rising from the building as firefighters looked on. Road closures were in place at the scene.

Traffic was being diverted around the area. Motorists were also asked to avoid the road as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Other photos taken from a distance showed the plume of smoke could be seen from different parts of the city. The cause of the blaze is not known at this time.