Costly council blaze in Launceston

A council depot in northern Tasmania has been destroyed by fire along with three vehicles belonging to a local Landcare group.

Fire crews were called to the Launceston City Council depot at Invermay about 3am on Wednesday when the two-storey building was fully engulfed.

"Investigations will begin this morning to determine the cause and origin of the fire. An early estimate of dollar loss would be approximately $500,000," Station Officer Ben Wilson said.