By Paul Kelso, Sports Correspondent
West Yorkshire Police says it will consider any new evidence relating to the deaths of 56 people in the 1985 Bradford City fire, following the publication of new allegations about the tragedy.
A new book alleges the Valley Parade disaster was one of nine major fires at companies or premises linked to the club's then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham.
It also claims the chairman, who died in 1995, was in deep financial difficulties prior to the fire and received total insurance payouts from the nine fires equivalent to £27m.
Author Martin Fletcher, who lost five members of his family in the fire, does not make any direct allegation about Mr Heginbotham's history of fires, but questions why they were not examined at the time.
"Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" he asks.
In a statement West Yorkshire Police said: "Should any evidence come to light which was not available to Her Majesty's Coroner at the original inquest, then we will consider it and take appropriate action."
Sir Oliver Popplewell conducted a public inquiry into the fire and found it was caused by a dropped cigarette which ignited rubbish that had been allowed to accumulate, despite several warnings, beneath a wooden stand.
Sir Oliver, who was not made aware of Mr Heginbotham's link to previous fires in 1985, told Sky News that while they were "a remarkable coincidence" it did not change his original judgement that it was an "accident exacerbated by negligence".
"If we had been aware of these fires at the time of course they would have demanded further investigation, but I am not sure what they would have revealed," Sir Oliver said.
"In terms of the facts it was one of the more straightforward inquiries.
"The police compiled witness statements and there was no evidence of anything untoward. There was no suggestion or evidence of arson at my inquiry or subsequent civil prosecutions."
Former sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, deputy leader of Bradford City council at the time of the tragedy, says he knew Mr Heginbotham "flew by the seat of his pants" in terms of the club's finances, but remains convinced by Popplewell's conclusion
"Stafford Heginbotham was one of those football club chairmen of which there were many at the time who flew by the seat of his pants," he said.
"I was deputy leader of the city council at the time and he did fly by the seat of his pants when it came to paying the bill for the police and so on.
"But I think the inquiry was very thorough at the time and I don't think there needs to be another because of this.
"I do not believe there was any sort of cover-up and in fact the inquiry led to a lot of recommendations on stadiums that together with the Taylor Report came up with the right answers for football."
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