TWELVE fire engines were called to a huge warehouse blaze overnight.

Emergency services were called to the fire off Market Street, Adlington, just after 11.30pm on Sunday.

When crews arrived they found the storage warehouse well alight with flames billowing from the roof.

Crews worked to stop the fire spreading to other properties and vehicles on the site, and requested further appliances for support.

At around 4am on Monday, there were 12 fire appliances at the scene along with two Aerial Ladder Platforms (ALP) and the Stinger unit.

At 6am on Monday, incident commander Jon Charters said: "On arrival our first crews were met with a well developed significant fire that had already breached the roof of the structure.

"The building involved is about three and a half thousand square metres and we understand it is used for storage of furnishings.

"We've been joined by our colleagues in Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service, given the proximity to Greater Manchester.

"At the moment the fire is under control and we will shortly be looking to scale down the number of fire engines at the scene but we will be occupying this site throughout most of today."

Throughout the evening, fire crews had been placed at strategic points around the perimeter of the fire and were using water towers and jets to bring the fire under control.

Approximately 20 residents were evacuated from their homes as a precaution and were being looked after in a nearby pub.

A spokesperson for the fire service advised those residents downwind of the smoke to keep windows and doors closed as a precaution

At around 7am on Monday, the fire service had reduced their attendance to six appliances along with one aerial ladder platform and a further three specialist appliances for extra support.

While the fire is believed to be under control, crews are likely to remain in attendance at the incident for the majority of the day.

At this time the cause of the fire is not known, however a full, joint investigation will begin as soon as it is safe enough to conduct investigations thoroughly.

Traffic management is in place between Market Street and Park Road but the rail line had not been affected.

At 8am on Monday a number of road closures remained in place around Adlington.