There will be no impact on fuel supplies following a fire at Essar’s Stanlow Refinery in Ellesmere Port on Wednesday afternoon (August 22).

The company released a statement saying the fire had occurred at the Shell Higher Olefins Plant (SHOP) chemical plant, on the Stanlow site, close to the Manchester Ship Canal: “Both Stanlow’s own site Emergency Services Team and the Cheshire County Fire Service attended to deal with the incident. All personnel on the SHOP unit were quickly accounted for. The fire has now been extinguished. Operations and production of fuels and other products from Stanlow Refinery have not been affected. All supplies to customers are normal.”

A statement from the emergency services said: “Crews from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service along with onsite firefighters from Essar quickly brought the fire under control and it was fully extinguished within three hours.

“The fire caused a large plume of smoke above the site. The incident was confined to the manufacturing area of the site and did not affect the refinery. All staff within the affected area were evacuated as a precaution and there were no reports of any injuries.”

Inspector Richard Reeves from Cheshire Police said: “We understand that this incident may have caused alarm to the local community and we would like to reassure people that it has not affected the wider area and there are not believed to be any risks to the public.”