Lancashire Fire and Rescue have released this statement:

Former Comrades Club, a 3-storey building of 25 metre by 30 metre floor plan, 'well alight'. No reports of casualties or people inside the building but local residents have been evacuated by police as a precaution. The fire engines and crews assigned to the incident are: 2 Blackpool, 1 South Shore, 1 Bispham, 2 St Annes, 1 Wesham, 1 Fulwood (and Command Support Unit), in addition to two Aerial Ladder Platforms (Blackpool and Preston) and support fire engine from Preston with the Preston ALP. Firefighters are using four water jets and the ALP jets to extinguish the fire and (at 6.45am) the incident is still ongoing.

UPDATE at 7.50am: LFRS 'Stinger' fire engine being used to pierce holes in the building's roof to direct a jet of water inside. No news as yet on the possible cause of the fire.

UPDATE at 9.20am: Firefighting has successfully reduced the incident in scale, with a corresponding reduction in fire engines and crews at the incident, now in the final stages of damping down. The cause of the fire is to be established. No casualties are reported.