Major fire rips through former Inverkeithing Primary School

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to a dramatic blaze at Inverkeithing’s empty former primary school last night.

Residents in the area of the old school at Roods Road were told to keep their windows closed and advised to stay clear of surrounding streets to allow emergency services to access the area after the outbreak around 9.20pm.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service control in Edinburgh said a number of appliances had been sent to the school to tackle the “well developed” incident.

There were no reports of casualties and fire crews were expected to remain at the scene throughout the night.

The incident comes less than a month after it emerged controversial proposals to demolish the C-listed building had been withdrawn.

Allanwater Developments had been granted permission to bulldoze the building as part of a project to create 28 new homes there.

Fife’s west planning committee went against officers’ recommendations and approved the demolition work and the housing development.

Scottish Government ministers were notified of the listed building consent application because Historic Environment Scotland had formally objected to the plans.

The developer subsequently confirmed it had withdrawn its interest in the former school.