LIVE reporting of the major fire that destroyed the former Bridgwater Sports and Social Club in June was the most viewed article on the Mercury’s website last year.

Many Mercury readers joined our reporting team by submitting their photos to this website, showing the smoke which could be seen from miles around.

The dramatic fire, which occurred around 7.30pm, sent toxic smoke into the air as the roof of the building was lined with asbestos.

The story attracted 26,000 views, 10,000 more than the next highest viewed report of a fatal lorry crash on the M5 in October that saw the entire stretch of motorway shut down for five hours.

Road closures and road accidents featured frequently in the most viewed stories online, including 13,000 views for when the Mercury reported on a woman who reversed into the Angel Place shopping centre in February.

When it came to the articles with the most discussion online, the people of Bridgwater showed up in droves to discuss traffic and roads again.

A total of 104 comments were posted on the article asking which area of Bridgwater had the worst potholes.

There were six stories from the Mercury that got over 10,000 views online and only one of them was not related to either the fire or traffic accidents.

That story, of course, was the Bridgwater Carnival. It was the most shared story from the website on Twitter where over 400 people came from the social networking service to view the opening of the Carnival.

There was also a lot of discussion about the Bridgwater postal workers voting to strike in June, getting 143 comments and a lot of heated arguments.