Residents evacuated during huge fire

SCORES of fire-fighters were tonight battling a major blaze in Basingstoke.

Residents had to be evacuated from their homes after a fire broke out on a site in Gershwin Road, in Brighton Hill, at about 6.20pm at the site of the former Beech Down Primary School.

A shroud of black smoke and 30 foot flames spiralled into the air as the fire took hold.

Around 30 people from Gershwin Road and the nearby Lehar Close had to be evacuated from their homes while firefighters tackled the blaze at the construction site.

The four-storey building, earmarked as sheltered housing for the elderly, was timber clad and measured 100 metres by 200 metres.

The rest of the story can be read here

Home Office: preparing to axe the SIA?

Late last night, an article on the main BBC News website suggested the Home Office could be preparing to axe the Security Industry Authority. Brian Sims reports with initial reactions from major industry players.

BBC Scotland correspondent Glenn Campbell’s article – provocatively entitled ‘Security sector quango faces axe in cost drive’ – is based around the fact that the BBC has been privy to the contents of a Home Office report which apparently states that such a move would save security companies money while at the same time “reducing burdensome regulation”.

Although no final decision has been made in terms of the Security Industry Authority’s (SIA) future, an official Home Office spokesperson has been quoted as saying: “The Government is committed to making substantial reforms of its public bodies to increase accountability and reduce their number and cost. All departments are working with the Cabinet Office and the Treasury to assess our public bodies and ensure they perform an essential role which has to be carried out by Government and cannot be provided more efficiently elsewhere.”

SMT Online understands the document seen by the BBC suggests the security industry has now matured enough to police itself.

The Home Office “expects to make an announcement [on the future of the Regulator] in due course”.

By Brian Sims