Firefighters battle blaze at Longannet

A spokeswoman from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they received a call about a building at Longannet on fire at 2.47pm and crews were dispatched.

She added: “There are now seven crews in attendance tackling the fire as well as a height appliance and a control unit. We have been informed that they are changing over some crew at present.”

Thick plumes of black smoke could still be seen above the power station for miles around at 4.45pm.

The fire came as Longannet’s disused east bunker bay, previously used to store coal, was brought down in a successful controlled explosion.

A statement from Scottish Power said charges were used to bring it down “with expected residual burning from some remaining coal dust resulting in some dark smoke being visible in the local area.”

It said fire crews attended “to assist the demolition contractor as per their normal procedures.”

Longannet was closed in 2016, with demolition work still ongoing, with over 28,000 tonnes of material removed from site so far, and 98.5% of this being recovered/recycled.