Reading fire: Thames Valley Police confirm they expect no further survivors as operation continues

Thames Valley Police say the operation is "complex" and the building is "unstable" as emergency services are said to remain on the scene.

At 2.56am on Wednesday, December 15, Police received a number of reports of a large fire at a property in Rowe Court off Grovelands Road, Tilehurst.

Police officers, fire and ambulance services attended and remained at the scene throughout the day.

Emergency services were expected to remain on the scene over last night.

In a statement issued by Thames Valley Police last night, (Wednesday) at 10.44pm, it was said that today (Thursday) work will start to assess the structural damage to the building.

The statement said: "The teams have been working tirelessly since the early hours of this morning.

"Following an extensive search, during which all rescue opportunities were exhausted, we can sadly confirm that we do not expect there to be any further survivors from the fire.

"As confirmed earlier, we know that one person has tragically died as a result of this incident. Two people have been confirmed as missing since then".

It went on to say: "This will be a complex operation which we expect to take some time. During this, we will work to recover any of those people who were inside the building.

"A 31-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder and arson remains in police custody at this time.

"If you have any concerns about loved ones, please report them online at Public Portal (mipp.police.uk) or by calling the Casualty Bureau on 0800 051 6079 or 020 7126 7641 from outside the UK.

"Finally, we would like to thank everyone who has helped today with this extremely challenging operation, including all the work done by partner agencies and volunteers.

"We’d also like to thank the people of Reading and beyond for their continued co-operation, patience and support at what has been an incredibly difficult time.

Supt Steve Raffield said in a statement released last night at 10.41pm that "the building itself is unstable and it will be a complex operation for our teams as we move through the day".

He added: "The building itself is unstable and it will be a complex operation for our teams as we move through the day.

"We expect this phase of the operation to continue today (Wednesday) into the evening and perhaps beyond".