EMERGENCY crews raced to Longannet Power Station this afternoon after a fire broke out on the roof of a building.

Thick black smoke filled the air after a 'loud bang' was heard as Scottish Power carried out more demolition work at the site.

A spokesperson for the energy company said the controlled explosion was a success, with six fire engines attending the scene to assist at around 2.47pm today.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 2.47pm on Thursday, June 6 to reports of a fire at Longannet Power Station, Alloa.

“Operations Control mobilised six fire engines to the scene, where firefighters were met by a small fire involving felt located upon the roof of a building.

“Crews currently remain on the scene working to extinguish the fire.”

Scottish Power confirmed that charges had been set to blow down the former power station's disused east bunker bay which had been used to store coal.

A spokesperson said: "A further structure at Longannet, Scotland’s last coal-fired power station, has been successfully brought down in a successful controlled explosion.

"Charges were used to blow down the site’s disused east bunker bay, previously used to store coal, with expected residual burning from some remaining coal dust resulting in some dark smoke being visible in the local area. The fire brigade attended to assist the demolition contractor as per their normal procedures."

Longannet was closed in 2016, marking the commitment by both ScottishPower and parent company Iberdrola to decarbonise the economy. With demolition work still ongoing, over 28,000 tonnes of material removed from site so far, with 98.5% of this being recovered/recycled.