THE blaze which engulfed a derelict shoe shop in York city centre was caused by people squatting in the building.

The Press told how the massive inferno broke out in the boarded-up Wynsors World Of Shoes at about 10.15pm on Saturday night.

Nearby Fibbers club evacuated everyone inside and hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the massive blaze many taking pictures of the scene on their mobile phones.

Fire station manager Alan Bell said officers had finished their investigation into the cause of the fire.

He said: "We believe it was caused by a person at the premises but it was just as likely to have been caused by accident by a cigarette as it was deliberately.

"There was evidence that people had broken in and had been living in there. They are unlikely to have wanted to burn their own shelter down."

He said there was no evidence of the fire being started deliberately, and no accelerant had been found.

He said no more resources would be used to investigate the precise cause of the fire because the building had been derelict.

The store was left completely gutted by the fire, which was so large that enormous black clouds of smoke drifted right across the city. Seven crews dealt with the blaze, and firefighters stayed at the scene until 7.30am on Sunday morning.

Firefighters managed to contain the incident so it caused minimal damage to neighbouring buildings, but one was affected by the fire.

Cars and buses were diverted around the area of Stonebow and the road itself remained closed until Sunday morning.