Fire breaks out at day clinic

A BLAZE in a city hospital forced the evacuation of its day clinic yesterday.

The fire broke out in a ground-floor cupboard of Liberton Hospital in Edinburgh around 11am.

Twelve elderly residents attending the day clinic were led to safety by hospital staff.

Firefighters called to the scene quickly contained the blaze but remained on site until 1:15pm.

None of the other 153 patients in the hospital had to be moved.The hospital, in Lasswade Road, specialises in geriatric care.

Jackie Sansbury, chief operating officer at NHS Lothian, said: "Twelve day-clinic patients were evacuated as a precaution and no-one was injured."

The health board said damage from the fire had been minimal and that officers from Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue were investigating the cause.