AROUND 50 firefighters spent more than 24 hours battling a fire which is believed to have been started deliberately at a derelict hospital.

The fire began in a tower at St George's Hospital, off Corporation Street, Stafford, at around 3.40am on Saturday.

Crews from eight fire stations attended the blaze, which started on the ground floor and ripped through four floors of the building, destroying part of the roof.

They had to withdraw from the Grade II-listed property due to safety fears, and aerial platforms were used instead.

Officers from Stone, Longton, Eccleshall, Cannock, Penkridge, Rugeley, Stafford and Gnosall attended.

The fire was eventually contained at around 6.30am yesterday but a fire engine remained at the site throughout the day dampening down. The blaze is now the subject of a police investigation.

Andy Kinsman, assistant area commander, said the building was a well-known haunt for rough sleepers. But he said officers had not yet been able to go in because of concerns about stability.

He said: "We know it has been broken into several times in the past. There are also reports that it has been used to burn copper wire.

"At the moment, it is definitely being treated as suspicious due to the security of the building. This incident draws attention to the hazards of derelict buildings for rough sleepers."

The Stafford County Lunatic Asylum opened in 1818, originally for 120 patients, but expanded considerably.

In the 1950s, it was renamed St George's Hospital. The fire-hit site closed in the 1990s.

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "Once the site is made safe, an investigation will be carried out by fire and police officers to determine the cause of the fire."

Neighbour Monica Massey, aged 75, first spotted the emergency services at 7.30am on Saturday.

She said: "I wondered why there were so many vehicles on the site but I couldn't really see any fire.

"It was only when I was upstairs at about half past ten and saw the fire all across the building. There was still smoke when I went to bed.

"It must have been a really serious incident."

Husband Bernard, aged 81, a former maintenance joiner at St George's Hospital, added: "I'm not surprised it's been treated as deliberate. You do hear that drug addicts are getting in and using it."

A spokesman for the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare Foundation Trust said: "We would like to reassure the public that there is no danger to St George's hospital patients following the fire to the old buildings at the back of the hospital, which are separate from the main site."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Staffordshire Police on 0300 123 44 55.