Work got under way last night to demolish a Bradford mill damaged by a fierce blaze.

The four-storey derelict Providence Mills in Tetley Street was so badly damaged that fire investigators were unable to get near it to find the cause of the blaze. Pictures showing the charred beams were taken by demolition company Thomas Crompton, who started razing it to the ground at about 6pm yesterday.

The area surrounding the mill will stay cordoned off until the demolition is completed, and it was expected that expert teams would take the whole night to get the job done.

Firefighters from across the district were called to the mill, off Thornton Road, at 7.30pm on Friday to tackle the blaze which saw part of the roof collapse. At its peak there were 14 fire engines from Bradford, Idle, Stanningley, Odsal, Shipley, Cleckheaton, Fairweather Green and Halifax stations at the incident.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the incident was “risky” because of a nearby shuttered building containing LPG cylinders which could have exploded.

Speaking yesterday, a fire spokesman said: “At the moment our investigators cannot get into the building so can’t get near enough to look for what started it.”