No casualties after major fire in Leven town centre

Firefighters have been tackling a major blaze in Fife since early this morning.

Emergency services were called to the blaze in Leven's High Street.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service say there have been no injuries.

A spokesperson for the service said: "We were alerted at 2.06am on Tuesday, 8 November to reports of a building fire on High Street, Leven.

"At its height 16 appliances and specialist resources were at the scene of a fire affecting a commercial property.

"4 appliances and other resources remain on scene as crews work to make the area safe. 

"No casualties have been reported."

A statement on Police Scotland's Fife Facebook page said: "We were called around 2.30am on Tuesday, 8 November, to a report of a fire in Leven High Street near Poundstretcher.

"The road and part of the Esplanade will be closed until further notice.

"The public are asked to avoid the town centre area if possible."

Meanwhile, local residents are being urged to contact Scottish Water if they are having issues with their water supply.

An update issued late this morning on its website reads: "We have now identified the cause of the interruption to water supply affecting customers in Leven.

"The Fire Service are attending a large fire which is having an impact on normal supplies for customers in the surrounding areas.

"This may be ongoing for several hours due to the extent of the fire.

"Please be aware that you may experience no water supply or low/intermittent water pressure.

"You may also experience discoloured water. 

"If you have experienced flooding due to this incident and need support, please call us on 0800 0778 778 or via one of the other methods on our contact us page."

The corporation say it was contacted before 5.30am this morning.

Further to the update above, a spokesperson from the organisation said: "Scottish Water were contacted at 05:20am this morning and our operative attended to alter the pressure in the network to allow the Fire Service to fight a fire at Poundstretcher in Leven’s High Street.

"Our network is designed for ensuring a reliable water supply to local communities and we will always provide as much water and support as we can in emergency situations.

"However, the network is unlikely to be able to provide the peak flows to properties during significant fires like this one, which require multiple fire-fighting units.

"Dramatically increasing the pressure and flow in our network runs a high risk of causing pipes to burst, which would harm our ability to provide water for the fire-fighting effort.

"Customers supplies will return to normal once Scottish Fire and Rescue have demobilised their appliances."