Public protection officers are working with the owners of a factory to see if any action is required in the wake of a major fire.

Firefighters were called to Kronospan in Chirk at about 10pm on Tuesday night following a blaze in one of the wood panel factory's SEKA filter towers as large flames and thick black smoke billowed from the building.

The company has given the provisional cause of the fire as an electrical fault, however an in depth investigation by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is still ongoing.

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Pictures: Twitter / @markcabin

In the past concerns have been raised by Chirk residents regarding dust emissions from the plant, as well as a number of previous fires in recent years.

Wrexham Council has now confirmed that its officers are liaising closely with Kronospan, which is subject to an environmental permit, to see if any further measures are required.

Cllr Hugh Jones, lead member for communities, partnerships, public protection and community safety, said: “Kronospan have notified the council’s public protection section that a fire occurred at 9.50pm on Tuesday, July 31, in part of the abatement plant associated with the particle board process. The cause is currently under investigation.

“Kronospan are liaising closely with public protection officers during the course of the investigation and in relation to any outcome actions required. The process is regulated by an environmental permit issued by the council.

“Following excess dust emission incidents from the Kronospan site in September 2017, additional dust management measures were implemented by the company.

“There has also been progress with building dust-containment structures and implementing new dust control systems at the site to reduce excess emissions.”

Chirk south councillor Terry Evans said it was one of three fires at the factory during the last year and that residents immediate thoughts were with staff working there.

He said: "The safety of the workers is obviously our main concern and the investigation is still ongoing.

"The fire service and the staff did an excellent job and we're glad that no-one was hurt.

"There's a lot of family and friends working in the community and that's the number one priority, we don't want to see anyone injured at all.

"They've had three massive fires in the last 12 months, but that's the company's issue and we're doing what we can with the environmental team."