60 firefighters battle blaze at plastics manufacturer

FIGHTERS have tackled a large blaze which engulfed a Lancashire plastics factory where more than 200 people work early today.

Crews took more than five hours to bring the fire at the £47m turnover Total Polyfilm site at Walton Summit business park in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, under control.

Fire chiefs say a unit containing large quantities of fuel caught fire. Up to 60 firefighters tackled the blaze which “escalated very quickly”.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has now launched an investigation into how the fuel was ignited.

LFRS area manager Simon Fryersaid the building had been “occupied at the time” and work “processes were taking place”.

“Due to the fuel that’s inside the building, it escalated very, very quickly”, he said, adding that no-one was injured.