A LEADING councillor is calling for a safety review of thousands of metres of plastic fencing following a large fire in Darwen.

The St James estate was engulfed in thick, black smoke when a mattress and piles of fly-tipped waste were set on fire next to fencing surrounding a Twin Valley Homes property in Hawthorn Avenue.

Up to 20 metres of fencing was destoyed.

Now Sudell councillor Roy Davies has questioned whether the fencing material is suitable.

He said: “There were big plumes of smoke and very intense flames. It’s worrying me that the plastic material will go up very quickly and could produce toxic fumes.

“There’s lots of the same plastic fencing all over Darwen, especially in the Higher Perry Street area where lots of elderly and disabled people live.

“From what I saw, it’s completely unsuitable to be using it in this way and could be a public safety issue.”

However, Twin Valley have assured residents that the fencing, installed for them by Groundworks, has passed safety checks and will only break down when subjected to intense heat.

Head of housing Ian Bell also urged people to think about the consequences of starting fires following the incident last week. He said: “This is a dangerous act of vandalism.

"The fencing has been destroyed and the fire could have caused serious injury.

“A vast amount of rubbish and accelerant has been used to start this fire as the fence could only disintegrate in this way under intense heat.

“ We would urge people not to fly-tip.”