POLICE AND the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service are now investigating the cause of two separate serious fires in Inverness within six days.

Thursday night saw a huge fire service presence after fire was reported in the former youth hostel at Viewhill House at the top of Castle Street.

Firefighters with six tenders and an aerial platform battled the blaze through the night. It lit up the city and saw roads closed and traffic diverted.

Like the former Craig Dunain Hospital which went on fire on the morning of September 15 and was badly damaged, it was a listed building of the Victorian era and holding a prominent place in the city.

There is no known link between the fires.

The structural safety of both buildings will have to be established to allow interior investigations.

A police spokesman said, “There is no evidence at the moment to link the fires.”

Viewhill House was about to be turned into flats after lying empty for nearly 10 years.

Craig Dunain had also been unoccupied for some years but work to convert it into flats was under way.