FIRE crews from four towns were called to tackle a fierce blaze at a Ribble Valley abattoir last night.

Firefighters from Clitheroe, Padiham, Barnoldswick and Accrington battled for two hours to put out a blaze at Rose County Foods, Sawley.

They used thermal imaging equipment to make sure none of the workers was trapped inside the building.

The fire started around 4pm yesterday in the plant room at Castill Laithe Abattoir.

Station officer Dave McGrath from Clitheroe retained fire brigade was one of the first on the scene.

He said: "The two Clitheroe fire appliances were there but we called in two more from Padiham and Barnoldswick because of the rural location of the blaze and the fact that we needed help to pump more water. "We had the incident support unit from Accrington which provided special camera equipment to check the premises, but fortunately nobody was injured.

"We also called the turntable ladder over from Burnley when we realised there were pressure cylinders in the building, but we had the flames under control and all danger from the cylinders had passed before the crew arrived."

The blaze is thought to have been started by an electrical fault on a pressure washer.

A spokesman from Rose County Foods said today: "Staff have been at the premises most of the night cleaning up and we hope to be back to full operation very soon."

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