FRUSTRATED fire chiefs have fired a warning to shot to flytippers following a huge blaze at a rundown industrial estate.

Up to 30 firefighters tackled the fire at Salthouse Mills in Barrow earlier this week over a day-and-a-half period.

It broke out in a series of large garage units used by car enthusiasts understood to be involved in banger racing

The cause is under investigation and a specimen from the scene has been sent off for analysis by environmental health chiefs.

While tackling the blaze, firefighters noticed piles of rubbish which had been illegally dumped.

Now a senior officer has fired a warning shot to those responsible.

Mark Ducie, station officer at Barrow fire station, said: "My message to these people is that,through their illegal and anti-social behaviour, they are putting lives of people at risk.

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"While we are out dealing with a a rubbish fire brought about through fly-tipping, there could be a genuine emergency.

"We have spoken to the council about the matter and understand that one person has already been prosecuted for fly-tipping at the site, with another is being processed."

In the past year, fire crews have been called to a number of instances of arson at the Salthouse Mills site involving discarded rubbish.

Councillor Tony Callister is Barrow Council's spokesman for environmental health - and is also one of the firefighters who tackled the blaze.

He said: "We have a zero-tolerance policy towards fly-tipping, wherever it is in the borough.

"We have a fully-operational waste collection service and there is a fully-operational county council waste refuse site, so there are no excuses.

"We have the processes in place to find people responsible for this kind of behaviour."

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Public Health England were made aware of Tuesday's incident. A spokesman for PHE North West’s Cumbria and Lancashire Health Protection Team said: “The local authority was testing for asbestos; we have received no notification of any confirmation of any present at the site.

"However, residents should be assured that there is no direct evidence of long-term health risks, such as development of mesothelioma and lung cancer, from fires involving materials containing asbestos, and this risk is thought to be minimal, provided that appropriate clean-up operations are undertaken.”