A COUNCIL leader has called for the urgent demolition of a former pub after it was gutted in an arson attack.

The blaze ripped through the former Railway Tavern in Brierfield leaving it in a 'dangerous' state.

The building, which has stood empty for at least 10 years, was due to be pulled down in a couple of months as part of Pendle Council's £32million Northlight Project to transform the area around Brierfield Mills.

But Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, leader of Pendle Council, said the demolition must be 'accelerated' following the attack from 'idiotic' arsonists.

He said: "I will be discussing the situation with council officers urgently.

"The building is unsafe now and is very unattractive for that part of Brierfield.

"I would like the demolition of the building to be accelerated because the last thing I want is a blot on the landscape.

"I think the behaviour of whoever did this is completely idiotic and was extremely dangerous not only for themselves but for everyone else that could have been nearby.

"They should be ashamed of themselves."

Around 25 firefighters from across East Lancashire battled the flames at the Railway Street building as 'thick, black smoke' billowed out of the windows just after 6.30pm on Monday.

The first floor was 'well alight' when crews arrived.

A team were originally sent inside the building but as the flames became 'too powerful' firefighters had to be pulled out to continue fighting it from the outside.

No-one was injured in the incident but a couple of cars did suffer damage as tiles came off the roof, the fire service said.

Pendle Council has teamed up with Barnfield Construction to transform Brierfield Mills into a flagship business and leisure park and the site of the Railway Tavern is set to be used to enhance access to this.

Gareth Smith, project director from Barnfield, said: "I do not understand why someone has done this and what excitement they get out of it.

"It's going to cost a lot of money because the place has had to be boarded up again and will need to be fenced off to make sure it's secure and safe."

Roads around the site were closed by officers for nearly three hours while the blaze was dealt with.

An investigation has now been launched by firefighters and police into the exact cause of the fire.

Watch manager Dave Robinson said: "We believe the fire was started deliberately.

"There was thick, black smoke coming out of the front and side windows of the first floor.

"An aerial crew was used to put the fire out and any remaining hotspots.

"There was no-one inside the building when we arrived.

"A couple of cars suffered light damage as tiles came off the roof.

"We are working with the police and an investigation is on going to find out the cause of the fire."

A police spokesman said: "We were called by the fire service at around 6.45pm to reports of a fire in a derelict pub.

"All roads were reopened by 9.30pm.

"We are now working with the fire service to investigate the cause of the fire."