FIREFIGHTERS believe a fire which broke out in an empty York pub yesterday afternoon may have been started deliberately.

Fire crews were called to The Jubilee in Balfour Street, in the Leeman Road area, at about 4.30pm. 

They were able to put out the fire using hose jets, but not before it had suffered fire, heat and smoke damage.

"The cause of the fire is believed to be deliberate," a fire service spokesperson said.

Local Labour councillor Kallum Taylor, who alerted the fire service to the fire, says what happened underlines the need to bring the pub back into community use.

Cllr Taylor was delivering surveys to a local residents association at about 4.30pm when he noticed what looked like three teenagers running out of what used to be the beer garden.

"I smelled burning, looked up, and saw smoke coming out of the top floor," he said.

Firefighters arrived within minutes and managed to tackle the fire - but not before one of the rooms had been damaged. "I spoke to the commander afterwards, and he said there had been something like 10 per cent damage to the room of origin," Cllr Taylor said. "Fortunately there was no structural damage."

Cllr Taylor says the pub is known locally as a magnet for problems. "It has almost become normal to see kids and other people breaking in and out, with numerous reports made to the council and the owners about this over the last few years," he said.

The Jubilee hasn't been used as a pub since 2016, Cllr Taylor said - but a local group is keen to keep it as a community asset, so it can be run as a pub and community venue. "We're trying to save it being turned into private flats," he said.

To find out more about the "Jubilee Community Pub" project to save the pub visit www.tinyurl.com/savethejubilee