Multiple fire engines and police called to blaze at former Moreton Hall Preparatory School in Bury St Edmunds

Multiple fire engines have been called to a blaze at a former school in Bury St Edmunds - the second such incident in the last fortnight.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service is at the former Moreton Hall Preparatory School, in Mount Road.

A call was received at 10.49am after smoke was seen coming from a second floor window of the three-storey building.

As crews battled the fire, the nearby Moreton Hall Health Club was evacuated.

All persons were accounted for and there were no casualties.

The fire is now extinguished although firefighters remain on scene.

Two fire engines from Bury St Edmunds, one from Mildenhall, one from Brandon, one from Ixworth and one from Elmswell as well as two appliances from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service - Thetford and Attleborough - attended the incident.

An aerial ladder platform from Ipswich East station was at the scene.

Crews used breathing equipment, two hose reel jets and a covering jet.

Suffolk Police attended and the cause is being investigated.

It is the second recent fire at the empty school after a suspected arson on Friday, June 27.

The fire was on the first floor in the former school’s nursery building.

The building is Grade II*-listed and was built in 1773.

The school shut in June 2020 due to financial complications caused by the Covid pandemic.