Flat searched amid fears person is trapped in burning building

They scoured the three-storey building, in Bright Street, after a 999 operator was told there may still be somebody inside it.

But a spokesman for the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) said: "No-one was in fact trapped and there were no casualties."

Three fire engines and crews - two from Blackpool and one from South Shore - had been called out at 6.35pm, alongside police officers and paramedics, who were on stand-by in case anybody was found.

Firefighters used a hosereel jet to tackle the fire, now said to have started in a ground floor flat, while wearing breathing masks.

After the flames were out, they used a portable fan to extract the smoke from the building, the spokesman said.

"The cause of the fire is to be established," he added.