A BLAZE at a derelict city centre mill, just yards from the student village at the University of Bradford, is being treated as arson.

Last night fire crews from seven stations attended reports of a fire at six-storey Laisteridge Mills at the junction of Listerhills Road and Smith Street.

The call was made at 6.55pm, and when they arrive fire crews found an area of 50 metres by 30 metres in the building's roof space was on fire.

Among those in attendance were crews from Bradford, Shipley, Fairweather Green, Odsal, Cleckheaton and Stanningley, as well as specialist officers and appliances attended from around the county.

Police were also called, and the road was closed off while the fire crews could tackle the blaze.

The road was re-opened at 9.30pm, and firefighters remained on the scene until 10.30pm.

This morning a police spokesman told the Telegraph & Argus that the incident was being treated as a suspected arson.

The large mill is just a short distance from The Green, a complex of flats housing students at the University of Bradford.

The long empty building has been a magnet for intruders, and the inside of the mill's ground floor is covered in graffiti.

The mill does not seem to have suffered any major structural damage in the fire.

Anyone with information about the fire, or who saw anyone acting suspiciously around the mill at the time, has been asked to call police on 101 quoting crime reference number 1663 of June 2.