Firefighters have been dealing with a blaze at Banham Poultry’s meat processing plant.

Eastern Daily Press: Fire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYFire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Three fire crews from Attleborough, Hingham and Wymondham, along with the aerial ladder platform from Earlham and water carrier from Hethersett, were called to the Attleborough factory at 7.37am on Thursday (October 15) morning.

All staff members were evacuated and firefighters focused their efforts on one of the main buildings beside the water tower, off Station Road.

Eastern Daily Press: Fire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYFire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Crews wore breathing apparatus and used hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze and, by 9am, they were dampening down and checking for remaining hotspots.

A fire service spokesman said the fire had been caused by malfunctioning machinery, and that no-one had been injured as a result.

Banham Poultry has been besieged by problems over the past few months, with the factory experiencing Norfolk’s single largest coronavirus outbreak.

In total, 130 out of 800 on-site employees tested positive for the virus.

Eastern Daily Press: Staff make their way back into the building after the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYStaff make their way back into the building after the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Closing the factory for two-and-a-half weeks was estimated to have cost the business around £4m.

Eastern Daily Press: Fire fighters check for hot spots at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYFire fighters check for hot spots at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Eastern Daily Press: Fire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYFire appliances at the fire at Banham Poultry. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)