Warwickshire fire: 'Crystal clear charges were wrong'

Two senior fire officers have been found not guilty of the manslaughter of four colleagues who died tackling a blaze at a Warwickshire warehouse.

Incident commanders Timothy Woodward, 51, and Adrian Ashley, 45, were charged after the Atherstone-on-Stour fire.

Fire service officer Paul Simmons, 50, was acquitted five weeks into his trial on the judge's direction

Following the verdicts, Warwickshire's chief fire officer condemned the decision to press criminal charges against the men.

Graeme Smith said: "It was crystal clear that these charges should never have been brought."