MORE than 15 firemen tackled a blaze at a Radcliffe paper mill which is due to shut later this year with the loss of 285 jobs.

The blaze broke out in an electrical ducting area above a paper machine at BPB Radcliffe at its James Street headquarters yesterday afternoon.

An electrical short circuit is thought to have started the fire in the paper rolling shed. The business, which traded for many years as Radcliffe Paper Mill, is being scaled down pending closure later this year.

Two fire crews from Bury and a third from Whitefield spent three hours at the scene. Damage was confined to the roof of the shed.

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