LANCASTER City Council leader Ian Barker says the future of Fats and Proteins is in the balance after Monday's huge blaze.

Cllr Barker is one of the firm's biggest critics.

He has campaigned against the factory for years and now claims this could be the perfect time to get it out of town.

"There is obviously the jobs element to consider but I don't think there will be too many people in the city upset to see Fats and Proteins shut down," Cllr Barker says.

"There are certainly serious questions to be answered now because this is a very serious issue.

"Fats and Proteins have been warned on numerous occasions by the city council over the smells from the plant and that if there is another outbreak like we had in the summer the company will be fined.

"I have always thought that the factory is incorrectly sited and if the buildings have been destroyed I cannot ever see it re-opening on that site. If it does it will have to meet tougher criteria - and that means providing more assurances over the smells.

"There are clearly issues at Nightingale Hall Farm and I am critical of the management of Fats and Proteins because they have not got on top of them.

Cllr Barker goes on: "I do not know the cause of the fire and I have not been to the plant but we need to know the details and why it burned like it did. That is another question mark over the operation."

The council leader, who was in Vienna when he heard the news, admits that the company has complied with the council on certain issues, including a problem when a dedicated sewer was installed to take effluent away and cut the smells around Borrowdale Road.

But he adds:" There are still key issues to be addressed and now it is not just about technical fixing."

The city council warned Fats and Proteins last month that it would be fined unless it cleaned up its act, though in 2003 the company won a case brought against it by the city council over smells from the plant.

A fire at the plant in May 2004 stopped production for five months. On that occasion 45 fire-fighters from across the county tackled the blaze.