BUSY Red Cross staff were devastated to find a fire had swept through their York offices - at the worst possible time.

Volunteers have been working hard to raise vital funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) tsunami appeal, and to provide relief for communities hit by floods in north-west England.

But their efforts suffered a setback when a fire ignited by an unattended candle caused extensive damage throughout their building at Marsden Park, Clifton Moor.

The Red Cross training centre there will be unusable for weeks, and office staff are now having to work shorter hours because of the lingering smoke.

Firefighters believe the blaze was sparked by a candle that set fire to a box of leaflets.

Red Cross volunteers spent last weekend collecting money for the tsunami appeal, and raised more than £20,000 in just two days.

Seven Red Cross first-aiders from York, Harrogate and Northallerton have also travelled to Carlisle to work in temporary medical centres set up to provide relief after the floods there.

Lisa Bass, senior services manager for the British Red Cross in York, pledged to keep up their charity activities.

She said: "It's been a mad few weeks here. We've been so busy with the ongoing DEC tsunami appeal, and now the situation in Carlisle. A fire in our offices is the very last thing we need.

"One of our staff arrived on Tuesday morning to find thick black smoke throughout the building.

"We called the fire brigade straight away, but this has put our training centre and a lot of our downstairs rooms out of action.

"Our neighbour, a language school, has been great.

"It helped us out with somewhere to hold meetings, and has kept us going with tea and coffee. For once it's the Red Cross who need the emergency help!"

A North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: "We were called to the Red Cross office in Clifton Moor at 8.23am on Tuesday, to a fire involving a box of leaflets.

"There was ten per cent fire damage and 70 per cent smoke damage to one room and further smoke damage to various other rooms on the ground and first floors."

She said the fire was not believed to be suspicious. Firefighters used thermal imaging equipment and a pressurised ventilation system to tackle the smoke.

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, January 13, 2005