Fire at derelict former bank

Emergency crews were called to a fire at a former bank building on Gloucester Road which has been left derelict for the past six years. Two fire engines and a turntable ladder attended after thick black smoke was seen over the site at the junction with Longmead Avenue in Bishopston.

Police directed traffic while firefighters used an extending ladder from a cherrypicker to inspect the source of the blaze. The Edwardian building remains an empty shell after its owner had it gutted in 2019.

An application to completely demolish the building was made four years later, but this was refused by city planners. A further application for demolition while retaining the facades was refused in 2024.

Commenting on that application, a city planning officer wrote: "It cannot be concluded beyond reasonable doubt and in the absence of evidence to the contrary that the building has not been intentionally rendered uninhabitable and unsafe by a person or persons who have an interest in the land.”