A blaze at the site of a derelict hotel is being treated as a suspected arson by police.

Five crews were called to a fire at the site of the abandoned Newport Towers Hotel on the A38 in the early hours of this morning.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue said: "We were called to a fire at the site of Newport Towers Hotel at 3.15am.

"Five fire crews attended the incident, two from Dursley, two from Thornbury and one from Wotton.

"Six breathing apparatus and three jets were used during the incident.

"A single-storey building was 100 per cent destroyed by the fire."

"Crews left the scene at 6.30am."

Police are now treating the fire as suspected arson after they were called by the fire service earlier this morning. 

A Gloucestershire Police spokesperson said: "The fire is being treated as suspected arson and we would appeal to anyone with information or who witnessed suspicious activity in the area to call 101 and quote incident 35 of April 16."

The Newport Towers Hotel has been unoccupied since 2007.

Outline planning permission for housing and a shop on the site was approved in 2017.

Plans for the design, appearance and scale of the proposed buildings, site layout and landscaping were submitted one year ago today.