Man taken to hospital following incident at Peterborough fireworks factory

A man was taken to hospital suffering from burns after an incident at a Peterborough fireworks factory on Friday afternoon.

A large number of emergency services were reported to have been called to Le Maitre on Fourth Drove, Fengate, at around 11.30am on Friday.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said no firefighting activity was needed at the scene, but the East of England Ambulance Service said there had been reports of an explosion at the site.

However, a spokesperson for Le Maitre said there had not been an explosion.

The spokesperson said: “There was no explosion on site and the member of staff involved is resting and is expected to make a a full recovery.”

The spokesperson said the term ‘explosion’ had been used to get medical attention to the scene as quickly as possible. They added: “An incident occurred whilst a fully qualified senior manager was undertaking a controlled burn and sustained some injuries to his hands during the process.

“As a result of the unfortunate description used to the emergency services, a new emergency protocol for staff has been generated for guidance purposes, to ensure that if anyone is injured on site, they do not, inadvertently, trigger a more serious response than necessary.”

A spokesperson for the ambulance service said: “We were called just before 11.30am with reports of an isolated explosion in a building on Fourth Drove in Peterborough. An ambulance, ambulance officer vehicle and a response car from Magpas Air Ambulance were sent to the scene. An adult man was transported by road to Peterborough City Hospital for treatment for a burn injury to his hand.”

A Health and Safety Executive spokesperson confirmed they had been notified about the incident, and said: "We will be gathering information into the circumstances that led to this incident."