Fire ripped through a derelict pub that was once the home of Bradford City Supporters Club.

The blaze at the Fountain Inn at Heaton is being treated as suspicious.

Detectives are working alongside fire investigators to find out what started the blaze at the boarded-up pub.

Scenes-of-crime officers have also been at the site sifting through damage.

A quarter of the pub’s first-floor space was on fire when crews from Fairweather Green and Shipley got there just after 11pm on Tuesday.

Fire had burned through the first-level floorboards and the whole building was badly smoke-logged.

A fire service spokesman said: “There were big empty rooms in there with plenty of air to feed the flames. The crews did a good job of stopping it from spreading.”

It is believed the fire was started on the ground floor.

The fire service spokesman said the pub had been boarded up well and they did not know how anyone had managed to get in.

The pub shut about two years ago after falling victim to the recession, according to Heaton Township member Elizabeth Hellmich.

She said it was a popular pub when it was opened and was often used for meetings, including a model railway enthusiasts’ society.

She said after it shut it had been bought by a developer who had planned to turn it into flats but parts of the building were targeted by vandals over the time it stood empty and thieves stripped it of materials.

Anyone with information about how the blaze started, should contact police on 0845 6060606.