More than a tonne of sugar pulp caught alight when a blaze started at a Suffolk sugar factory.

Eight fire engines were sent to the British Sugar Factory, in Bury St Edmunds, late on Monday evening.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to the fire at around 11.40pm, after reports around 1.5 tonnes of "sugar pulp" on a conveyor unit caught fire.

A spokesperson for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said: "Access was difficult and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus worked to extinguish the flames, with the assistance of staff from British Sugar."

Eight crews were sent to the scene from Bury St Edmunds, Ixworth, Elmswell, Newmarket, Haverhill and Wickhambrook.

A turntable ladder and the command support vehicle were used to bring the fire under control at 2.30am.

The fire service reduced the number of crews at the scene to two, who monitored the scene.

A British Sugar spokesperson said: “We can confirm an incident took place last night at our Bury St Edmunds factory which was attended by Suffolk Fire and Rescue.

"The emergency teams were on site as a precaution, for three hours. All site protocol was followed and nobody on site was harmed.

"The area in question has been assessed and since reopened. Sugar production will not be affected as we start the 2024/25 campaign.”