Four rescued as clothing shop fire brings havoc to the centre of Crieff

FOUR people were rescued as a major blaze in a clothes shop and a flat in Crieff brought traffic chaos to the Perthshire town.

Fire crews from Dundee, Auchterarder and Comrie were called to help firefighters from Crieff tackle the blaze at the Cee Gees shop and a flat above the store in the town's High Street in the early hours of yesterday.

A man and woman were rescued from the flat above the shop and two other men were led to safety from an adjacent flat. The main road through the town was closed for several hours.

A spokesman for Tayside Police said: "It is believed that the fire started just before 3am and the cause remains unknown at this time."

A fire and rescue service spokesman said: "A total of 32 firefighters using four breathing apparatus sets, three main jets and one water tower were required to bring the fire under control."

He added: "A joint fire investigation will be conducted by Tayside Fire and Rescue and Tayside Police in an attempt to establish the cause."