A FIRE station burned down after an overheated battery set fire to badly stored oil and paint.

The blaze at North Berwick fire station on December 3 wrecked two fire engines, worth £360,000, and the damage to the building ran into millions.

The East Lothian station's smoke alarm rang for hours through the night but went unheard because it had not been linked to an emergency monitoring station.

The official investigation into the fire makes embarrassing reading for brigade chiefs, accused of failing to follow their own fire prevention advice.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service only made its investigation report public after the intervention of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

A fire service spokeswoman said it was categorically not the case the fire service had withheld the report because it was embarrassed. She said: "The fact the fire report wasn't released was a technical issue when we didn't have a full team in place. We've always been open about it. Fire can happen anywhere, we're not immune."

The cost of rebuilding will be met by insurers, she said.