Firefighters were today still damping down after a major fire at at the historic Lady Royds building near Bradford Girls' Grammar School last night.

At its height ten fire crews battled the blaze in the building in Squire Lane, Heaton, which was formerly a feeder primary school for the school, and is now in the hands of a developer for conversion into housing.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service was notified of the fire at about 8pm.

Firefighters confirmed the fire was in an old, disused building in the vicinity of the girls' grammar school.

A First bus became stuck within the police cordon.

Around six passengers got off to walk to Lilycroft Road to catch another bus.

It took fire crews around an hour to bring the fire under control.

Although firefighters had to access the site through the grammar school itself, no school property was involved. 

Othman Dakhil, who lives nearby, said firefighters had responded very quickly to prevent the fire spreading.

"They have done a very good job. The damage is to the front of the house and has been confined to two rooms."

A fire service spokesman said they were alerted to the fire by ambulance staff who had reported flames coming from the building roof.

The spokesman said the listed building was "50 per cent involved" in fire.

Seven large jets were used to bring the flames under control. 

Pumps from Bradford, Fairweather Green, Rawdon, Bingley, Odsal, Idle, Shipley, Illingworth and Cleckheaton attended with support crews from Mirfield, Pontefract, Dewsbury, Cookridge and Stanningley. Specialist officers also attended.

In October 2014, the Telegraph & Argus reported how the building was due to be restored to its original use as a grand Victorian mansion after a property developer was given permission to convert the Grade II listed building. Click here to see that full article.

Lady Royd House was built in 1865 by Bradford architects Milnes and France for textile magnate Henry Williamson. In the 1920s Bradford Girls Grammar School bought the building to use as a preparatory school. The building ceased its use as a school several years ago, and was put up for sale in 2009.

It was designated as a Grade II listed building in 2008.

Last October, Bradford Council granted planning permission to convert the neglected building into a "single family dwelling," retaining the building's grand features such as ornate fireplaces, plasterwork on the ceilings and panelled doors.

Recent additions and extensions to the building, including a nursery building, were due to be removed and replaced with more sympathetic extensions.

The building is off Squire Lane, and sits between Bradford Girls' Grammar School and Bradford Royal Infirmary.