Workers fled from a factory when a blaze in an industrial oven filled the premises with smoke today.

About four people were in the Marrose Abrasives building at Becks Road, Keighley, when the fire broke out at about 7am.

They tried tackling the blaze with a dry powder extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

Crews from Keighley and Bingley fire stations were called out to the incident. They used an extinguisher and hose reel to douse the flames and two ventilation fans to clear the smoke from the single-storey premises.

Watch commander Paul Turner, of Keighley fire service, said: “When we arrived, smoke was issuing from the roof of the building.

“The fire was contained to the industrial oven but there was a lot of smoke and we were at the scene for about an hour in total clearing it.

“Those workers in the building when the fire started safely evacuated.”

Marrose Abrasives director Tony Day said a thermostat device on the oven, which is about 40 years old, had failed.

He added that production at the 18-employee company, which manufactures rubber bonded abrasive products, had been unaffected.