WORKERS and residents had to be evacuated following an explosion at a Clitheroe quarry. The blast was sparked by a ‘small fire’ near an area containing oxygen and acetylene cylinders at Tarmac Ltd, Bankfield Quarry, off Pimlico Road, at 10am on Friday.

Bosses said the incident, in which one of the cylinders exploded, only caused minor damage. No-one was injured. A 200-metre exclusion zone was put in place around the site.

Some 25 workers were evacuated, as well as residents from 10 homes in Chatburn Old Road, until around 6pm.

Pimlico Road was closed by police until the evening. Dave McGrath, watch manager at Clitheroe Fire Station, said: “We took a tactical decision to keep the firefighters away from the risk area until we could establish water supplies.

“Once the supplies arrived, we started to cool the cylinders down and, after four hours of trying to bring the temperature down, we were in a position to send personnel in to monitor the temperature from a closer range.”

Les Baker, 66, who lives in Chatburn Old Road, was told he could not enter his home after he came back from his shift as a lollipop man at the nearby Pendle Junior School.

He said: “I went to work and when I came back there were police and firemen everywhere and I was told that I couldn’t go to my house because there had been a fire.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

Bob Robinson, Tarmac’s regional safety manager, said it had been a ‘small fire’.

He said: “The fire was quickly extinguished. It was close to a gas cylinder storage area and, as a precaution, a 200-metre safety exclusion zone was put in place around the cylinders for the next 24 hours.

“We are currently investigating the cause of the fire and, ultimately, to prevent any re-occurrence.”

Operations were planned to resume as normal on Saturday.