FIREFIGHTERS have today tackled a fire in a derelict building at the former Kangol hat factory site near Cleator.

The emergency response came after the alarm was raised just before 6am.

The crew found a smouldering fire inside a derelict outbuilding which contractors had been using to store materials and rubbish, including cardboard and bricks.

The fire is thought to have been deliberately started.

White Watch crew manager Alan Whitham thanked staff at BAF Contracting after they brought a telehandler and a mini-digger to the site to remove heavy rubbish from the building so the fire could be properly put out.

"There's no confirmation of how the fire started," he said but the building has no electricity source and it is thought children may well have started it.

The crews spent much of the morning making the building safe.

Renovation work is currently being carried out on some buildings at the site.

The sprawling factory site, near Cleator, closed in 2009 with the loss of 32 jobs after 71 years of making hats.

Copeland Borough Council later approved a plan to turn some of the site's empty buildings into offices.

* Photos courtesy of Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service.