A worker has been injured after an oxyacetylene cylinder exploded at a chemical gas factory, it has emerged.
Residents and staff from two factory premises were evacuated after the oxy-acetylene cylinder, then caught fire, at the BOC premises in Barley Mow, Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, at around 7.30am.
Appliances from both Durham and neighbouring Tyne and Wear fire brigades were dispatched to the scene, and Vigo Lane, either side of the factory, was closed to traffic.
Staff at both BOC, formerly the British Oxygen Company Ltd., and next door Arizona Chemicals were evacuated as were residents in Bedford Avenue, which is within 300-metres of the plant.
A Durham Police spokesman said one man was injured and taken to hospital but no details about his injuries were available.
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