Asbestos scare in £500,000 mill blaze

CORDONED off . . . police turn motorists away in Ashton Road as fire crews tackled the the blaze at Bardsley Vale Mill

FIRE-FIGHTERS were today still at the scene of a blaze which caused £500,000 damage to stock at a pharmaceutical factory in Bardsley.

Sixty fire-fighters from 12 stations across Greater Manchester were called out to Recipharm Ltd, in Bardsley Vale Mill, Ashton Road, at 9am yesterday.

It is thought the blaze was caused by an electrical fault. Tackling the blaze was made harder by asbestos in the mill structure.

Each firefighter could spend only half an hour at the fire before withdrawing for decontamination and their kit sent for cleaning.

At the height of the blaze, around 60 fire-fighters, plus 20 support officers, police and paramedics, were at the scene because of the short-time restrictions.

After six hours at the scene several officers were able to leave, but four engines remained at the scene into the evening and overnight.

The road around the mill was cordoned off for around 250 yards in each direction and remained shut until late last night.

The fire service later said that crews were still at the scene this morning, although the business was set to open as usual.

It is thought that though the fire was contained to a storage area, around £500,000 of stock has had to be written off.