Fire crews called to civic centre

Date published: 07/10/2009

OLDHAM Civic Centre’s newly-revamped Shaw and Crompton Suite was filled with smoke this morning following an electrical fault.

A matter of hours after the council officially launched the £500,000 refurbishment, fire crews were alerted following reports of smoke inside the building at 6am.

Officers using thermal image cameras spent 90 minutes searching for the fault which stemmed from the air conditioning system.

A small amount of smoke had travelled through the ducting and filled the suite, but no other rooms were affected.

Officers said the fault could have potentially ignited within the system. Refurbishment to the Shaw and Crompton Suite included the installation of new audio equipment, and updated heating and ventilation system.

A spokesman for Oldham Council said there was no damage to the suite which would remain in use today and engineers will be called out to check the air conditioning system.

No-one was injured.