Fire leads to medical centre being evacuated

Twelve patients were evacuated from a town's medical centre after a "significant" blaze took hold on a second floor balcony, which then spread to the roof.

Six fire appliances from Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire fought the flames in Brackley at about 23:10 BST on Sunday.

Videos on social media showed flames on the roof and the top corner of the modern building off Wellington Road, which houses a GP surgery and community hospital. No-one was injured and crews left the site at 04:30.

The centre has remained open on Monday and staff thanked the emergency services on social media for their "swift response".

The fire service said the cause was being investigated.

A number of people on the town's Facebook group expressed concern about the patients and staff there.

Eyewitness Sanj Sinha told the BBC they were going to bed at about 23:20 when they saw an "orange glow" from the bedroom window.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) said the fire was in part of the building not used by patients at night, and "all patients and colleagues were kept safe".

"Due to the damage caused by the fire, we are clinically reviewing the current patients using our community beds with the expectation that we will find alternative options for their ongoing care (either at a different community hospital site or at home if appropriate)," a statement on Facebook said.

"No NHFT clinics are scheduled to take place in the building today. We are reviewing planned clinics for the rest of the week and whether alternative arrangements are needed. Any changes to clinics will be shared on the NHFT website."

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