Four rescued from Crieff house fire

FOUR people were rescued by firefighters in the early hours of this morning following major blaze in a clothing shop and a flat in Crieff.

Fire crews from Dundee, Auchterarder and Comrie had to be brought in 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.

A man and woman were rescued from the flat above the shop and two other men were led to safety from an adjacent flat at the height of the blaze.

The main road through the town was closed for several hours as a result of the fire and local diversions were established by Tayside Police.

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

A spokesman for Tayside Fire and Rescue Service said: "In total six appliances were committed to the incident from Crieff, Auchterarder, Comrie, Perth and Dundee. A total of 32 fire fighters 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."