FIRE crews were called out to a Whitefield flooring factory after a chemical spillage.

Officers from Whitefield and Bury stood by to monitor engineers at Polyflor as they tackled the leak of limestone dust from a 27-ton silo.

A faulty valve was responsible for the dust spilling from the silo at the company's premises in Radcliffe New Road on Friday afternoon (Aug 16).

Engineers carried out the repairs after being placed into a special compartment. Fire officers said the limestone dust was non-hazardous.

Sub-officer Steve Simpson of Whitefield fire station said: "We stood by with our breathing apparatus in case the engineers got into difficulty."

Crews were at the scene for around 90 minutes.