STAFF were forced to destroy thousands of mini pork pies after a fire broke out at a factory.

The fire happened at The Vale of Mowbray factory at Leeming Bar, near Bedale, at around 1am on Friday morning.

Thousands of pork pies could not be saved from smoke damage after plastic scissors left inside an oven caught fire.

A fire crew from Bedale was called to the scene, but staff at the factory had already put out the flames with water and CO2 extinguishers.

The pork pies have been disposed of.

NYFRS Richmondshire wrote on Twitter: “Important to pay attention to kitchen safety at any scale.”

The site was hit by a major blaze in 2002.