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Fire at former hospital was deliberate - police

BBC Smoke is visible billowing from the roof of an old two-storey sandstone building, There is a large tree in the foreground. BBC
Police advised people to avoid the area around the former Nithbank hospital

Police are treating a fire at a former hospital in Dumfries as deliberate.

Emergency services were called to the derelict Nithbank Hospital in Craig Road at about 18:25 on Thursday.

Police Scotland described the fire, on the second floor of the building, as "substantial" and advised people to avoid the area.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews extinguished the blaze and there were no reported injuries.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The fire is being treated as wilful and inquiries are ongoing."

The former hospital building was previously badly damaged in October last year in what the force said was a deliberate fire. It has been repeatedly vandalised in recent months.