The fire broke out on Saturday night above La Belle Angele nightclub in the busy Cowgate area. We've heard that the Gilded Balloon has been 'gutted' in the blaze, as well as several other buildings in the Leisureland entertainment block.

'The Scotsman' newspaper reported: "The buildings in the area [are] all several storeys high, and house a complex network of cavern-style nightclubs on the lower floors and residential flats higher up. There were no reports of any injuries last night, but police were frantically trying to evacuate residents as the blaze spread."

The fire started around 8pm and was tackled by over 40 firemen, who had it "under control" three hours later.