Fire threat remains at York track

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Firefighters remained at York racecourse on Thursday morning amid concern that the major blaze they tackled overnight could reignite.

Crews were called to the course on Wednesday evening after a fire started on the 5th floor of the Ebor stand.

Staff and guests at a function in the hospitality suite were led to safety.

On Thursday, a crew using a thermal imaging camera was checking for hot spots to ensure there were no more flare-ups, the fire service said.

The award-winning Ebor stand - which opened in 2003 at a cost of £20m - contains a large amount of steel which had retained heat from the fire, a North Yorkshire Fire Service spokesman said.

Damage assessment

Meanwhile, racecourse managers were attempting to assess the exact scale of the damage caused by the fire.

A full inspection will take place once the fire brigade give the all-clear.

However, officials were optimistic that the incident would not affect a two-day meeting, featuring the John Smith's Cup, next weekend.

James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship at the track, said: "We do not believe this incident will affect our ability to race next weekend.

"The fire brigade are still in attendance at present though, so the question of any damage is something better discussed later."

'Orderly evacuation'

He said there had been a function going on at the time of the fire but there were no reported injuries.

"The alarms went off and the party in the function suite and the staff were evacuated," said Mr Brennan.

"The most important thing is that everyone at the function evacuated in an orderly fashion, along with the staff, and everyone is accounted for so we do not believe there are any injuries."

North Yorkshire Fire Service said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined but it was being treated as accidental.

They were called at about 1900 BST to numerous reports of a blaze at the Ebor stand.

A spokeswoman said five appliances and two aerial platforms went to the scene and described the fire as "quite substantial".