Investigation into BAE nuclear shipyard fire

The fire broke out in the Cumbrian site's main building facility

An investigation into a fire at a nuclear shipyard is under way.

A "significant" blaze at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, where the UK's nuclear submarines are built, was reported early on Wednesday morning.

Seven people were taken to hospital and have since been released.

The defence company said until a full investigation had taken place, it would be "inappropriate" to comment further about the cause or potential impact.

Emergency services stood down their major incident response to the fire in Devonshire Dock Hall, the site's main building facility, on Wednesday afternoon.

Defence minister Maria Eagle said seven employees, who were taken to hospital following the initial fire as a precautionary measure, had been released.

She added "at no point was there any nuclear risk" from the fire.

The affected area would only be accessible to essential personnel, BAE Systems said, but the rest of the site was operational.

Seven BAE employees were taken to hospital and have since been released

Barrow mayor Judith McEwan said people in the town were "OK" and "very confident" in the back-up system at the site.

"We don't have incidents like this very often with BAE. They have very high security," Ms McEwan said.

"People in Barrow don't panic over things like this."

Meanwhile, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness Michelle Scrogham said she and ministers were being updated on a regular basis.

"It's our biggest employer, it's one in three working there, it's huge for Barrow-in-Furness, but at this point I don't think it would be right to speculate on what's happening in there," Ms Scrogham said.