VANDALS caused havoc for firefighters searching a burning Ledbury house.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to tackle missing floorboards and pushed in ceilings, when they searched a burning Ledbury house.

They were worried someone could be trapped inside, and they put their lives on the line to make sure that wasn't the case.

Richard Cooper, watch commander at Ledbury Station, said it was a 'nightmare call'.

He said: "The progress of our search was hampered by criminal damage. It made things more difficult than normal.

"Floorboards had been lifted and ceilings had been pushed in."

The fire had taken hold of bedrooms in the derelict property and, although no one was living there, firefighters had to carry out a thorough search in case there were trapped intruders or squatters in the blazing building.

Intruders had been reported in the derelict house, off the Little Marcle Road, close to the Heineken plant, just days before.

Four firefighters put on breathing apparatus to carry out the search in the heavily smoke-logged building.

Watch commander Cooper said professionalism kicked in.

He said: "We are trained to test the floors before we walk on them."

At the height of the blaze, 20 fire crew were on site and appliances from Ledbury, Malvern and Fownhope. The ladder platform vehicle from Hereford was also called in.

Crews were there for more than three hours, and two hose reel jets and a covering jet were used to extinguish the flames.

The blaze was reported to the fire service shortly before 9pm on Sunday, January 15, and police were called in shortly afterwards.

A police spokesman said: "At this time this has been logged as a fire and not arson."

Police confirmed vandals had caused damage at the premises, just days before.

The police spokesman said: "There is a report of criminal damage at the same property on January 13 that occurred at 8.10pm and was reported at 8.10pm.

"It was reported that five people were committing criminal damage at the property. Fencing was damaged and graffiti put on walls."

The spokesman added: "If anyone has any information regarding this they can call 101 and quote incident 696s of 13 January 2017. Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org