Accident and emergency department evacuated after blaze at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester

Firefighters had the blaze - which started in a storeroom on the first floor - under control at 2.30pm on Tuesday, June 19.

Four fire engines and two support vehicles rushed to the scene and managed to contain the blaze, which was in the pathology department.

However, because the room contained biohazard material, firefighters were waiting to don special gas-tight suits before checking it fully.

As a precaution, the accident and emergency department was evacuated, as was outpatients. However St Richard’s remains the designated hospital for the area at the moment, and patients are not being sent elsewhere.