FIREFIGHTERS were called to a blaze at the Whitchurch Silk Mill this morning.

Crews from Whitchurch, Overton, Winchester, and Andover were called to the incident in Winchester Street at 9am this morning (April 6).

The fire started in the boiler room, with flames spreading up the chimney, where it was contained by firefighters.

Mill director Sue Tapliss said: “All of our systems worked in detecting the fire quickly. The crews were here so fast and because we are a grade two listed building, they sent more than one.”

The blaze was contained and put out. No one was injured, and the stop message was given at 10:25am.

The firefighters were then treated to a cup of tea at the Silk Mill’s café, before observing two minutes silence on the front lawn in memory of two firefighters, Alan Bannon and James Shears, who died fighting a fire in Southampton in 2010.

Sue continued: “The fire crews were excellent, they made sure that the situation was contained and that everyone was safe before letting us carry on, so we treated them to a cup of tea at our café before they left.”

The Silk Mill was closed until 10:30am, when it re-opened. There were a group of tourists who were booked in for a guided tour of the Mill before the incident happened, who were delayed as the fire was being put out. They were then able to return to their tour after it was declared safe by the fire service.