Royston church fire: Arson probe under way

BCH Road Policing Fire at St John the Baptist Church, RoystonBCH Road Policing
The fire service was called out at about 03:35 GMT

A fire that badly damaged a medieval parish church is being treated as arson by police.

At its peak, about 25 firefighters tackled the blaze at St John the Baptist church in Royston, Hertfordshire.

Crews were called out at about 03:45 GMT to the building on Melbourn Street, where they found the roof, bell tower and church entrance "well alight".

The fire has since been contained.

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman said investigations were being carried out at the scene and the blaze was "being treated as arson at this time".

Melbourn Street remains closed and police are asking people to avoid the area.