Major fryer fire in Walkers Leicester chips plant

Sixty firefighters tackled a blaze which started at a Walkers food processing factory in Leicester Wednesday morning.

Twelve fire engines and other appliances were mobilised after a fire broke out at the industrial premises in Leycroft Road, Beaumont Leys, shortly before 3.50am.


A member of staff raised the alarm and the factory was evacuated before the fire crews arrived.

The site, where 2500 people are employed, is believed to be the world’s largest snack food factory.

Firefighters from across the county worked in teams to fight the fire with foam after the blaze started in the fat in a food fryer.

Chief fire officer Dave Webb, who was in charge of the incident, said firefighters had to use thermal imaging cameras to find the seat of the fire.

He said: "This was a very challenging incident.

"We had to use so many firefighters in breathing apparatus because we used them in rota to fight the fire.

"There was an awful lot of thick black smoke and visibilty in the building was zero. A difficulty we had was that the piece of machinery involved was 20 metres long and five metres wide."

Mr Webb said the firefighters had the blaze under control by 7.30am.

Pepsico Statement

A spokesman for PepsiCo, which owns Walkers, said: "We can confirm there was a fire at our Leycroft Road site early this morning.

"The fire services arrived on-site and brought the fire under control. The fire is now out and no one has been hurt.

"We will be working with the fire service to investigate the fire and working around the clock to get things back to normal as soon as possible."