AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after firebugs caused £185,000 of damage to a chemicals factory in Lancaster.

Fire fighters were called to the Acordis site on Caton Road at 7.20pm on Sunday where 100 tonnes of cellulose acetate flake worth £160,000 were destroyed and £25,000 of damage caused to the building.

The fire, which police suspect was deliberate, occurred just days after Acordis announced the Lancaster plant would close in September with the loss of 121 jobs.

Local residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed for about an hour while the fire was brought under control.

But a fire spokesman said that smoke from the blaze did not justify evacuation.

The firm's business director Simon Brearley confirmed that police and fire services were investigating the blaze.

About 18 employees had been on site when the alarm was raised and normal evacuation procedures kicked in.

None of the production areas had been involved in the fire which started in an open yard where the product had been waiting to be despatched, said Mr Brearley.

There was some damage to an out-building and a canteen, which was scorched.

Mr Brearley said that the substance involved was classified non-toxic.

Six crews with more than 40 fire fighters from Lancaster, Morecambe and other stations from the surrounding area, tackled the fire, which led to the temporary closure of Caton Road.

Fire fighters were on site for about four hours and police used a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment to track the blaze.