Chimney fire causes chaos

Motorists on a busy Shropshire road faced traffic chaos as fire crews put out a chimney blaze.

Firefighters were called to tackle a chimney fire at a property in Bletchley, near Market Drayton.

But to extinguish the fire yesterday, the aerial ladder platform from Telford had to be called so the fire could be doused from the top of the chimney.

As a result, the southbound carriageway of the A41 had to be closed - and queues as far back as Whitchurch quickly built up.

Leading firefighter Mark Smith, from Market Drayton fire station, said the occupier of the Ashford Cottages property had lit and extinguished a fire the night before, but a rook’s nest had caught fire in the chimney void and continued to smoulder through the night. He said the alarm was raised by a neighbour.

Mr Smith said the road was closed for 30-45 minutes. “Traffic stretched as far as we could see, all the way back to Whitchurch,” he said. “Usually we go up from the bottom, but because it was a difficult chimney the only way of tackling it was from the top.”