Notre Dame Cathedral in Rouen on fire as black smoke engulfs spire

Emergency services rushed to the scene as they work to extinguish the blaze, the Mayor of Rouen has said.

Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol said: "Start of fire in progress on the spire of the cathedral of @Rouen.

"Origin unknown at this stage. All public resources are mobilised. Thank you for facilitating their intervention."

The cathedral spire was undergoing work which involved large scaffolding structures in place.

"The construction site is complex because of this height with very large scaffolding structures," Richard Duplat, chief architect from Historic Monuments told Tendance Ouest.

The local prefect - a state official - said the cathedral had been evacuated and emergency services were on the scene.

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A security cordon has also been erected around the building.

The gothic structure was painted several times by impressionist artist Claude Monet in the 19th century.

People in the streets below the fire have been spotted looking up in horror.

It comes after the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris set alight in 2019.

A suspected electrical short-circuit caused a fire at the famous Parisian cathedral.

The huge blaze destroyed much of the inside of the renowned landmark and saw renovation work take place.

At the time, firefighters said that the fire was so big that the whole building was destroyed within minutes.