THE cause of a massive inferno at a chemical plant in Morecambe is still being investigated.

Fire chiefs say that arson will probably be ruled out as the root of the blaze at Lancaster Synthesis, on the White Lund industrial estate, on Tuesday.

The firm had just been sold for £14.15 million to international chemical giants Johnson Matthey, subject to agreement.

Fire crews from Lancaster and Morecambe were first at the scene just after 6.30am - but at the height of the blaze 20 appliances and 70 fire-fighters from across Lancashire were at the site.

The 17 workers in the warehouse in Newgate at the time escaped unhurt but shops, offices and businesses in the White Lund area were all closed for the day and staff sent home as police imposed a security cordon around the area.

More than 14,000 different types of chemicals are housed on the site and there were concerns how they would react to the heat of the fire and water used to fight the flames.

The fire was brought under control after six hours but fire crews were still damping down yesterday (Wednesday).

People have been warned to stay out of the River Lune until further notice by Lancaster City Council as a precaution, in case traces of chemicals have got into the water.

And the Food Standards Agency recommends that people should wash and peel home grown fruit and vegetables harvested from areas that may have been affected by the smoke.

A thick plume could be seen for miles around as the plant blazed, but there were only a small number of reports from the hospital and local doctors of people suffering from smoke inhalation.

Rodger Wilcox, of Lancaster Synthesis, which employs 150 people at Morecambe, said it was too early to say what was going to happen next.

"We have no indication as yet into what may have caused it and I could not begin to guess the estimated loss at the moment," he told the Citizen.

"We will just have to see how the situation develops with regards to the jobs and it is too early to say whether it will be positive or negative."

Regarding the sale of the business, he said: "The sale was agreed but has not yet been completed and so we will be in talks with Johnson Matthey to see where we go from here."

The company sells a wide range of organic chemicals, mainly to industrial and academic research institutions. They were only stored in small quantities.

Mr Wilcox said: "We have had an incident before at our Eastgate site, but not on this scale. We comply with health and safety legislation and have regular visits from the authorities.

"There are over 14,000 types of materials in there which are used for research and synthesis for pharmaceuticals," he added.