News

Up to 120 firefighters tackled a major blaze last night at a meat packaging factory near Andover in Hampshire.

Fire services initially sent six pumps from stations across Hampshire and Wiltshire to Randall Parker Foods in Tillydown, Appleshaw, shortly before midnight on Wednesday (12 December).

But the severity of the fire and the presence of gas cylinders and a diesel tank on the property meant four extra pumps had to be dispatched, said Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. Relief crews took over this morning.

This is the second major fire at a packaging factory in as many months.

Wealmoor Atherstone's vegetable packing plant at Atherstone-on-Stour was destroyed by fire on 2 November. Four firefighters died tackling the blaze.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service area manager Andy Bowers, the officer in charge at Randall Parker, said staff present in the building when the fire broke out were evacuated and had been accounted for.

"We will be investigating the cause of the fire, but do not believe it to have been deliberately set," he said.

The fire affected an area covering 135x65m, with 50% of the premises caught in the blaze.

No one from Randall Parker Foods, which packs fresh meat into vacuum-packed and retail packs, was available for comment this morning.