Fire crews 'not ruling anything out' in Hartside Cafe investigation

Fire investigators say they're not ruling anything out, when it comes to finding out the cause of a fire which destroyed a popular cafe in the heart of the North Pennines.

Hartside Cafe near Alston in Cumbria was burnt to a shell in the early hours of Tuesday, 6 March.

Firefighters from Alston, Brampton and Penrith all tackled the blaze for several hours. No one was injured in the fire.

Fire crews from Penrith had to follow a snowplough along the road to reach the scene after last week's heavy snowfall.

Ian Steel from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service was among the first on the scene:

The cafe, which sits at one of Cumbria's highest points on the A686, is a hotspot for cyclists and motorcyclists, who've tackled the gruelling climb up Hartside Pass.

It was also a popular pitstop on the Tour of Britain route in 2015.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said their investigations will initially centre on finding the room in which the fire started: