Depot fire is 'suspicious', say police

A FIRE that damaged 50 buses at a depot in Lanarkshire is being treated as suspicious.

About 100 people were evacuated from nearby properties after the fire at the premises in Coatbridge in the early hours of Tuesday.

The blaze also caused disruption to school transport in the region, with some 300 pupils arriving late because their buses were not running as normal.

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Alternative transport was arranged to take them home at the end of the day.

Firefighters were called to Greenhill industrial estate at about 2am and some 40 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze at its height.

Police said the fire caused "extensive damage" to the premises and the fleet of buses in the depot.

A joint investigation is being carried out into the cause of the fire, which is being treated as wilful.

Detective Inspector Bob Frew said: "I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Greenhill industrial estate in Coatbridge between 1:30am and 2am (on Tuesday] who witnessed anything suspicious to come forward to police.

"I would urge anyone with information that may assist our investigation into the fire to contact Coatbridge police office."

The depot is used by companies including Lindsay of Coatbridge, A Trip in Time and Arthur's Coaches.

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