FLAMES leapt 20 feet into the air as part of a Pershore factory was damaged in a blaze today.

Crews tackled the fire at the Winstanley factory which started at 6am and at its peak had 12 crews at the scene from Pershore, Evesham and Worcester.

The road to the factory in Racecourse Road was closed to traffic, and a 200 metre exclusion zone was set up due to gas cylinders of oxygen and nitrogen being on site.

Rod Smith, managing director of the fabrication specialist company, which employs 80 people, said half the factory had been destroyed, but thankfully the machinery was not damaged.

“We are pleased with the prompt action of the fire service who were able to confine the blaze to the office and the works restrooms areas,” he said.

“The main factory seems to be relatively untouched.”

Within hours of the fire, Mr Smith had arranged to rent a building 500 meters from his factory, which he was going to move into at 6am today, guaranteeing continuous supply to his customers.

“After 40-odd-years of business I suppose it was my turn to have a major fire - it was my debut at this kind of thing but I'm sure that we will recover from this,” he said.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service group manager Mike Cunningham was the officer in charge.

He said firefighters arrived to find flames already going through the roof of the premises.

“We had initial information that the premises which was an industrial fabrication unit may contain cylinders, this was confirmed very shortly afterwards by the owners,” he said.

“Because of the danger of the cylinders of explosion we had to put a 200 metre exclusion zone around the premises which involved evacuating residents from Coventry Terrace just up the road.”

But he added once they knew the cylinders were cold by using thermal imaging cameras, they were able to contain the fire, and the majority was just smoke-damage.

The Environment Agency was called to monitor the situation.

The fire was under control within three-and-a-half hours and an investigation is currently underway to establish the cause.