FIREFIGHTERS from two counties and nine stations have tackled a bakery fire near Whitchurch.

Shortly after 12.30am, on Saturday, May 23, firefighters were called to reports of an industrial building fire in Aston.

Firefighters from Audlem and Nantwich were dispatched to the scene and on arrival they discovered a large fire in in the ceiling voids of the building measuring approximately 80 metres by 40 metres.

Because of the scale of the fire an additional eight crews from Whitchurch, Malpas, Chester, Crewe, Northwich, Sandbach and Alsager were called to the scene.

Crews sectorised the fire into three sections and firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, used hose reel jets to tackle the fire.

The A530 Whitchurch Road was closed as a result of the incident and residents living nearby were advised to keep their windows and doors closed.

Firefighters worked throughout the night dealing with the incident, which was extinguished at around 5am.

Relief crews from Penketh, Tarporley, Congleton and Knutsford arrived at the site at 7am, and all of the initial crews were released from the incident.

Crews then used hand tools to cut away and remove the all of the damaged ceiling panels and used thermal imaging cameras to monitor for any hotspots.

Firefighters are also working with the buildings owners to undertake a salvage operation and recover equipment where possible.

The cause of the fire is believed to an electrical fault in an air conditioning unit which was located in the roof of the building and all staff were accounted for and there were no reports of any injuries.