A large section of a 50000 sq ft Padiham factory crashed on to the bank of the River Calder yesterday morning. A 60m chunk of riverside warehouse collapsed spectacularly, but fortunately there was no danger to life as the company’s workforce is off on holiday all week.
As the dust settled, factory inspectors were called in the assess the damage, and gas board officials dealt with a reported leak. Carrying out maintenance work in the factory yesterday was foreman Bruno Beneduce, of Morse St, Burnley. He said “We heard this crash and that was it. Part of the warehouse had collapsed. The police came down within minutes. The warehouse is used to store plastic flowerpots. There is never anyone down there. It is always empty. The gas board is down there, as well as the sewage people as it has cracked a pipe.”
Keith Newmark, which employs over 80 staff and normally operates its production lines 24 hours a day, is the UK’s largest producer of plastic flowerpots. It exports several million every year to over 40 countries. A 13000ft expansion project is still in the pipeline at its Padiham headquarters.