Commercial building fire investigated

Multiple fire crews have been at the scene near Penryn

Investigations into a "significant fire" at a commercial building in Cornwall are under way.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said it was alerted to the blaze on Falmouth Road, Penryn, at about 00:08 BST on Thursday.

The service said crews were “immediately forced back from the heat of the fire” and asked five more appliances to attend.

Police were also in attendance and said there was a “significant amount of smoke”.

The fire service said roads in the Ponsharden area would be shut until further notice

Martin Addinall, from the fire service, explained 25 firefighters were in attendance and crews were “still fighting the fire”.

“We found quite early on we had a very significant fire taking place in the property," he said.

“The damage is quite significant and our crews are still fighting fire because it is quite deep seated."

He said a lot of the materials were “falling in on to themselves”, adding crews were still trying to maintain a “fire cover" to stop it from re-igniting.

Fire cause unknown

“At the height of the fire there was quite a large amount of smoke but luckily for ourselves and for all the public around the smoke was being driven right across open fields, so it was dispersed and really safe,” said Mr Addinall.

He added the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage and fire investigators would be attending the site.

Cockwells Modern and Classic Boatbuilding ltd, which is based at Mylor Creek Boatyard, but also operates from two satellite sites at Ponsharden, between Falmouth and Penryn, said the fire broke out at its production facility.

It confirmed “no-one was harmed in the incident”.

Managing director Dean Short said they were “immensely grateful” to the fire crews who attended and the swift action of all the emergency services.

“We will now work with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the fire and will issue further communications when more is known,” he said.