UPDATE: 12 stuck at top of Blackpool Tower amid fire alert

Smoke was seen coming from the building, which sparked the alert just after 12.30pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2018.

Bank Hey Street was closed off as a precaution.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue spokesman has since confirmed there were 10 to 12 people being 'held at the top of the Tower for safety reasons' and that fire fighters had entered the building.

Visitors access to the top of the 500ft Tower by lifts to the viewing platform, which are out of action during the incident.

Six crews of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are still working to extinguish the fire.

The people held at the top of the tower will be allowed down once the smoke at the bottom of the lift has cleared.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue, said: "There was a 'confirmed fire in one of the Tower building's roofs'.

"Four fire crews from Blackpool, St Annes, Bispham and Fleetwood are in attendance, and the aerial ladder is on its way from Preston.

The call came in at 12.39pm, from workmen on the roof who have seen smoke coming from the building, the spokesman said.

HMV on Bank Hey street was also forced to close due to the incident.

Manager of the Merlin Cluster of attractions in Blackpool, Kate Shane said that contractors working on the roof had started a small fire, which 'created smoke that then triggered the alarm systems as smoke had got into the roof void'.

The alarms trigger a full evacuation, she said, but that it appeared the fire was external at this stage.