FIREFIGHTERS are still at the scene of a factory fire that has been blazing for more than ten hours through the night.

Crews from throughout the region have been battling the flames at a clothes factory in Peterlee from 9pm last night.

Andy Wetherspoon, crew manager at Peterlee, said: "The fire is still ongoing and we have crews at the scene.

"The flames are all extinguished now, they've all been dampened down, but we're making sure everything is kept under control.”

An investigation into the blaze at Southwest Industrial Estate, off Whitehouse Way, is now taking place, although there is no indication at this stage that it was started maliciously.