By ADAM LAZZARI THE historic Phoenix Hotel in Wisbech is being demolished this afternoon after the building was declared unsafe following a massive fire in the early hours of this morning. A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said at a

By ADAM LAZZARI

THE historic Phoenix Hotel in Wisbech is being demolished this afternoon after the building was declared unsafe following a massive fire in the early hours of this morning.

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said at around 2.15pm today: "A building control officer has carried out an assessment and declared the hotel to be structurally unsafe.

"For this reason a demolition of part of the building is taking place now and firefighters are expected to remain at the scene for most of the afternoon.

"A second demolition of further parts of the building will be carried out at 9am tomorrow.

"Energy supplies have now been turned back on for those living and working nearby.

"North Brink, Chapel Road and the road over Freedom Bridge will remain closed to allow firefighters to carry on their work."

Incident commander Sean Brown said: "Fire crews have been doing all they can to ensure the damage caused by the fire has minimal impact on the buildings adjoining it.

"We've been unable to get access inside the Phoenix itself due to fears that the building could collapse. We've now had this confirmed by a building control officer and partial demolition is being carried out.

"There are some hot spots still inside the building and we need to ensure these are properly extinguished.

"Some heat has transferred through the adjoining walls the adjoining properties. The walls are extremely hot and we are still monitoring them to ensure that no further damage is caused.

"Because of this I don't expect the roads around the Phoenix will be reopened this afternoon.

"I know this is causing some disruption too those living and working in the town and I urge them to bear with us as we need to ensure that the building is safe and no further damage is caused."

Police and the fire service are unable to confirm the cause of the fire at this stage.