BOSSES at a Rossendale factory hit by fire say very little lasting damage has been caused.

Fire crews from across East Lancashire were called to the Duralay plant in Broadway, Haslingden, on Friday afternoon after fire broke out in a rubber-moulding machine.

The carpet underlay firm, which employs more than 300 people, evacuated the factory while firefighters brought the fire under control.

Personnel director Gordon Fletcher said the blaze had been confined mainly to the outside of the factory.

He said: "The fire brigade were very quickly on the scene and there was very little damage to the plant."

He said production would resume as soon as the water was cleared from the site. That was expected to have been done by today.

"We were very fortunate," he added.

During the blaze the police helicopter was called in to fly over the site and relay thermal imaging pictures to the fire crews, allowing them to pinpoint any areas of extreme heat which needed damping down.