RESIDENTS were forced to flee their homes after a major fire at a block of flats in Gourock early this morning.

Crews from Greenock, Gourock and Clydebank were all called to a top floor flat at Royal Street just after 3am, with around 25 firefighters battling the blaze.

No one was injured and the resident, a woman in her 30s, was not at home at the time.

Her flat was completely destroyed as crews who arrived in five fire engines worked to extinguish the blaze.

Police could not confirm if the blaze was accidental or started deliberately.

They say that a joint investigation will be carried out by police and the fire service.

All the residents living in the block were evacuated and some were ordered to move their cars from the narrow street so engines could get access.

Police said the woman’s flat would be ‘uninhabitable for the near future’ and that she is now staying with a friend in the area.

Roads surrounding the fire were closed off, and Royal Street was closed between Church Street and King Street, with the lane from King Street to Binnie Street also shut.

Detective Inspector David Wagstaff, from Greenock CID, said: “We are investigating a fire at Royal Street in a domestic dwellinghouse on the top floor of the building.

“The flat was unoccupied at the time.

“The locus will be subject to a joint investigation with the fire service to establish the cause of the fire.”