Rail services paused due to factory fire

Residents have been urged to keep windows and doors closed due to the plumes of smoke

Rail services were suspended due to a fire at a factory near a railway line.

East Midlands Railway and Greater Anglia both paused services running between Norwich and Ely due to a fire at Attleborough, but lines have since reopened.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue said it was dealing with a large fire in the area of Maurice Gaymer Road.

Greater Anglia said it had been told the factory building involved housed gas cylinders and chemicals.

It said the blaze caused large amounts of smoke and urged residents to keep doors and windows closed.

Six crews were in attendance at the height of the blaze, the fire service said.

In a statement on its website, Greater Anglia said: "Train services running through this station are returning to normal but some services may still be cancelled, delayed or revised.

"Normal services will be provided as soon as possible."

"The fire service has effectively extinguished the fire and have declared the railway safe for trains to run through," it added.

Passengers travelling between Cambridge and Stansted Airport to Norwich can travel via Stowmarket or Ipswich at no extra cost.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said crews remained at the scene to dampen down any hot spots.

Incident commander, Simon Mason, said an investigation would be held into the cause of the fire.

The building had been "significantly damaged" by the blaze, he said.

"Because of the nature of the industrial process that goes on at the site, there was a large nitrogen tank external to the premise and there were also a number of gas cylinders being used in there for welding use and to power the forklifts," he added.

"So the crews worked very hard in the early stages to maintain a water curtain to protect that external nitrogen tank from the effects of the fire and we were able to quickly remove all of the cylinders from the premise to mitigate that hazard and stop any further risk of explosions."