Devastating fire rips through Leven hotel.

A former hotel in the heart of a Fife town has been left in a “perilous state” after a devastating fire.

Firefighters spent two hours tackling the flames at Brannigans on Hawkslaw Road, Leven, on Tuesday night, just three days before the building had been due to transfer to new owners.

They were there for several hours more ventilating the rooms and damping down.

The hotel had been closed for some time and was boarded up.

Locals reported seeing children playing on the roof of the empty building the night before the blaze took hold.

Formerly known as The Hawkshill, the seven-bedroom hotel is the third prominent empty building in Levenmouth to be hit by fire in less than a year and police are investigating the cause.

In August the former Denbeath Club was destroyed in a huge blaze, believed to have been started deliberately.

Then, just two months ago, Silverburn House was razed in another deliberate fire and local councillors have been warning that other derelict buildings in the area are “sitting ducks” for fireraisers.

They have called for action before someone is killed.

Leven Labour councillor Colin Davidson said he had gone to check the damage at the two-storey Brannigans and added: “It’s in a perilous state. There has been a huge increase in fireraising in this area and it’s now at record levels.

“I have asked for a meeting with fire brigade officers and the police this morning with a view to asking them what approach they are going to take to stop this from happening.

“I know they’ve been talking to pupils in schools but we can’t allow this to continue.”

Mr Davidson said he had spent much of the weekend at the dilapidated Threeways Inn in Leven following a number of reports from neighbours that youngsters were ransacking it.

“Derelict buildings like the Threeways and Brannigans need to be monitored,” he said.

“My fear is for the lives of the firefighters as well as the young people.”

Earlier this month firefighters revealed Levenmouth was by far the most problematic area in Fife for deliberate fire-raising with an average of four blazes started every week in 2017-18.

Methil Fire Station manager Steven Michie said there was a huge amount of work ongoing to reduce the number of blazes and cut the risk to those setting them as well as the wider public.

“Rest assured we’re working with the police and community safety officers, along with education services, to put plans in place to focus on this activity,” he said.

There has been a huge increase in fire-raising in this area and it’s now at record levels. COUNCILLOR COLIN DAVIDSON

Picture: Steven Brown. The boarded-up Brannigans Hotel is the third prominent empty building in Levenmouth to be hit by fire in less than a year.