DETECTIVES were tonight questioning a 33-year-old man in connection with a fire which ravaged part of an industrial site in Otley.

Firefighters were called out to Ashfield Works, off Westgate, on Tuesday evening.

They found part of a large, derelict building alight, with its roof timbers ablaze.

Crews from Rawdon, Otley and Cookridge stations were involved in fighting the fire overnight, along with an aerial appliance from Bradford.

The affected area was still being dampened down yesterday morning, while investigations continued.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed that an arrest had been made yesterday afternoon.

A spokesman said: "We are investigating a suspected case of arson and have arrested a 33-year-old man from Otley in connection with this incident.

"Anyone with information that could help should call Leeds District CID on 101."

Rawdon Fire Station Watch Commander Rob Hart, describing how the blaze was contained, said: "We believe it was deliberately ignited although we haven't confirmed that yet.

"This was a derelict building, about 80 metres by 20 metres, with about ten per cent involved in fire and all of the roof timbers.

"When we first got there - it was Rawdon and Otley to begin with - they managed to get some stop jets in pretty quickly which managed to stop the whole property from catching fire.

"It was the initial response that really stopped it from spreading.

"The aerial appliance, which uses a hydraulic platform, allowed us to get above the fire and pour vast quantities of water over it."

Ashfield Works, which includes a several operational businesses along with a number of empty buildings, is owned by Leeds City Council.

The authority has been marketing the plot for years and is understood to be very close to finalising a deal that would see it redeveloped into both new housing and businesses.

Councillor Ryk Downes (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon) said: "Obviously this kind of incident is unacceptable and if anyone has information that could help they should let the police know, because we don't want this happening anywhere else.

"This might have been a derelict building but fires spread and people can get caught up in them.

"I've asked the Council to send someone to look at the site and see what can be done to make it more secure, and they're doing that."

Arson was also suspected when a similar large blaze happened at Ashfield Works in 2008.