The ferocious blaze which wrecked a landmark Bradford mill is likely to have been started by arsonists, police have revealed.

Fire ripped through the five storeys of Thompson Mill in Tetley Street, off Thornton Road, leaving it so badly damaged demolition work started yesterday.

Traffic was brought to a standstill as Thornton Road was closed around the mill throughout the time of the blaze on Tuesday night before it was re-opened yesterday morning.

A police spokesman said: “Initial indications suggest it was malicious, however we are liaising with fire investigators to establish the full circumstances.”

Fire and rescue service incident commander Brian Robson said the mill was already engulfed in flames when crews arrived at the scene and said it was a great tribute to the crews that they managed to contain the incident and protect nearby properties.

“Due to the scale of the incident, there was inevitable disruption to local traffic and I would like to thank the police for their excellent assistance,” Mr Robson said.

Figures released yesterday show between April, 2009, and April, 2010, there were four mill fires in the district, three of which were derelict and the following year there were ten mill fires, seven of which were derelict.

From April until the end of July this year there have been six mill fires of which four were derelict buildings.

Stephen Hardy, a spokesman for the fire service, said Bradford’s Arson Task Force did “magnificent work” making sure the city stays safe and that derelict buildings were often a target.

He said: “Around bonfire night deliberate fires tend to be more of a problem than at other times of year.”

Ward Councillor Nazam Azam (Lab, City), said: “It is a landmark building, it was a very old building in the city and it is sad to see it being demolished.”

Councillor Sajawal Hussain (Lab, City), added: “Any damage or loss to the city centre is in my view sad news and it is really hurtful to lose any property or for extensive damage to be caused in the city centre.”

Tony Raby, Bradford Council’s principal building control surveyor, said: "We were called out in the interests of public safety to check the structure of the building following the blaze.

"We contacted the owner's agents and demolition has begun on the dangerous parts of the building which should take a couple of days.”

Witnesses or anyone with information about the cause of the blaze should contact Bradford South CID on (0845) 6060606 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on (0800) 555111.