THIS was the wreckage and smouldering remains that were standing after a major blaze ripped through one of Blackburn’s most popular nightclubs in 1972.

Police said that the fire which destroyed the Cavendish Club was ‘entirely accidental’ and was thought to have started in a rubbish chute about 15 minutes after the last customer left.

The distinctive club, built on stilts on top of the town’s main shopping centre, went up in flames just a week before Christmas. More photos taken at the time show shopping centre being flooded by the water used to put out the flames.