'Structurally unsound' Stalybridge mill to be demolished after fire
A Greater Manchester mill has been left "structurally unsound" by a large fire and will be demolished, the local council has said.
Firefighters were called to Ray Mill in Clarence Street, Stalybridge, at about 23:45 GMT on Saturday and were still damping down on Monday morning.
At the height of the blaze, five storeys of the building were alight.
Tameside Council said demolition was expected to start "as soon as is safe", with the work expected to take a week.
Clarence Street, Tame Street and some surrounding roads will remain closed until further notice.
An authority spokesman said some services, such as waste disposal and gritting, could be affected, because the council's main depot lies next to the mill.
He added that 80 buses had been removed from a nearby depot "in very challenging conditions" to minimise disruption to public transport.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has begun an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Ray Mill housed around 15 small businesses, including cheerleading and dance academy TGA Tycoons.
TGA Tycoons founder and principal Jane Wood said the demolition announcement was "devastating".
She said she had lost equipment "worth £25,000 and a new kitchen and bathroom", and knew of other businesses at the mill that had "lost everything".