A FATHER and son have been fined after a massive blaze at their scrap merchants almost polluted the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

William Henry Entwistle and William John Entwistle, of Dandy Row, Darwen, appeared in court following a 1,000-car fire at Altham Car Dismantlers, in February 2001.

Sixty firefighters tackled the blaze and, together with Environment Agency officers, many spent two days pumping water into drains to ensure it avoided the canal.

But at Hyndburn Magistrates, father and son were fined £3,000 each after pleading guilty to keeping controlled waste on site which was likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm human health.

The court heard that a number of failures by the Entwistles increased the intensity of the fire and its potential environmental impact.

Some cars on the site still had vehicle fluids in them, there was a number of fuel spills, and a lot of scrap waste around the site, which helped spread the fire.

A drain at the front of the scrapyard was blocked with silt and debris, which meant any contaminated water could have entered any watercourse, including the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The fire was started by sparks from a piece of cutting equipment and quickly spread to 200 cars, stacked in five-high columns.

At the height of the blaze, a police helicopter, eight fire engines and several support units from across Lancashire were at the scene.

A plume of black smoke billowed over several nearby towns, as the speed limit on the M65 was reduced to 30 mph. During the hearing, The pair were fined a further £3,500 each after admitting three failures to comply with their waste management.

The court heard that the site had been inspected regularly since November 1999. Environment Agency Protection Officers had warned the Entwistles that they were not disposing of waste effectively.

When the problems continued, a notice was issued demanding the problems were eradicated within 30 days of June 26, 2000. But by September 2000 they still existed.