A PAPER plant was evacuated after a massive fire broke out on Deeside Industrial Estate last night.

Nine fire appliances battled a blaze which broke out shortly after 7pm after 100 bales of paper caught fire outside the Parry & Evans Paper Recycling Factory in Zone One of the industrial estate.

Staff working at the factory had to be evacuated from the building and cooling jets were put in place to prevent heat damage to the adjoining buildings.

Speaking from the scene of the blaze, station manager Mike Hough of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are unable to ascertain the cause of the fire. Further investigations will take place once the fire is diffused.”

Two fire engines from Deeside were sent along with four from Flint, Buckley, Mold and Holywell.

The incident command unit and the environmental protection unit carrying water were also dispatched from Wrexham along with the aerial ladder platform from Llandudno.

Cllr Christine Jones, who lives nearby on Welsh Road, said: “We heard the fire engines shooting through here, but at the time I didn’t think anything of it because we are used to it. The air outside stinks of smoke though, it smells like bonfire night.”