A BLAZE engulfed a council bin wagon as it completed its rounds forcing three crew members to flee.

The vehicle, which was collecting garden waste, was badly damaged by the fire in the incident in Marsden Hall Road, Nelson, yesterday.

Bosses at Pendle Council have now taken all similar vehicles off the road ahead of an urgent review of their safety which will be completed on Monday.

Initial investigations from the fire service have revealed that the blaze was started by a fuel leak, possibly caused by an electrical fault.

The wagon was badly damaged in the blaze but none of the three crew members were hurt.

Crew manager Nigel Bamford, from the retained fire crew in from Colne said: “The fire was started after a hydraulic leak allowed diesel into the exhaust system.

“No-one was hurt and we were there quickly.

“We extinguished the flames in about eight minutes but the vehicle was left heavily damaged.

“The fire did however ignite a parked car which had to be extinguished at the scene.”

Firefighters were called at 10.55am and took around an hour to put the fire out.

A spokesman for Pendle Council, which is responsible for garden waste collection across the borough, said: “The three members of the crew were not hurt but they were left pretty shaken up as you can imagine.

“It seems to be an electrical fault but the vehicle cannot be salvaged and is now a write off.

“The fire service controlled the situation well, but another vehicle has been damaged during the incident.

“Nobody was hurt in the fire but the crew were sent home due to the seriousness of the incident.”

Pendle Council has now taken every garden waste vehicle which is of the same make and model off the road until a complete inspection has been carried out.

Coun Mohammed Iqbal,who sits on Pendle Council and Lancashire County Council, said: “This is a shock and should be taken very seriously.

“It is good that no one was hurt but the council need to contact the manufacturer to make sure this is just a one off.

“It should not happen again.”

It is understood that the wagon had been operating as normal throughout the morning before the leaking diesel fuel was sparked in the exhaust system.