Furniture workshop fire inquiry

An investigation is under way into the cause of a fire which resulted in part of a Lancashire town centre being cordoned off.

The fire broke out in a furniture restoration workshop on Duck Street in Clitheroe on Friday night before spreading to two neighbouring houses.

One of the terraces was evacuated during the operation, which involved up to 20 firefighters.

Investigators returned to the scene on Saturday to investigate the cause.

Crews from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service were called to reports of the fire at about 1910 BST on Friday.

Cause unknown

Because of the materials inside the workshop the fire quickly spread to the adjoining shop, which is an end-terrace.

Firefighters evacuated the neighbouring properties before the flames spread further through the roof.

Part of the main road was closed to keep bystanders back from the fire, said Ian Potter, station manager at Clitheroe.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire that a fire investigation team returned to the site on Saturday morning.

"We're going down there to do a full fire investigation because we haven't ruled out the cause of fire yet," he said.

"Every possibility is open to us and it's very very difficult to carry out a fire investigation in the dark."