The fire service were called at around 5am
A cordon at the scene of a mast fire on Manchester Old Road, Middleton(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A statement has been issued by O2 after a phone mast burst into flames on a busy Greater Manchester road this morning (November 6).
Part of Manchester Old Road in Middleton was closed off following the fire, which had broken out on a phone mast opposite a row of shops.
The fire service tackled the blaze while Greater Manchester Police were on hand to manage the road closure.
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Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement: “At shortly after 5am on Thursday (November 6) three fire engines from Broughton, Chadderton and Heywood fire stations were called to a fire involving a phone mast on Manchester Old Road, Middleton.
“Firefighters closed the road and set-up a cordon to keep the area safe. One fire engine remains in attendance while crews work alongside partners to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.”
There was a build up of traffic in the area as the road remained closed in both directions.
A cordon at the scene of a mast fire on Manchester Old Road, Middleton(Image: Manchester Evening News)
An O2 spokesperson later confirmed that the mast had been one of their network and that it was currently out of service.
An O2 spokesperson said: “Following a fire earlier today, one of our masts in the Middleton area is currently out of service. We’re working with the emergency services as they carry out their initial investigations.
“Our engineers will begin restoration work as soon as it is safe to do so. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The affected phone mast (Image: Manchester Evening News)
Engineers from Cadent Gas were also at the scene following a smell of gas in the area, but the source was said to be a leak across the road, unconnected to the mast.
Chris Campbell, customer operations area manager at Cadent, said: “The emergency services dealing with this phone mast fire detected a smell of gas nearby and called us in, as the gas emergency service, to look into it.
“We have found a leak on a gas pipe on the opposite side of the road – unrelated to this fire incident.
“Our engineer is taking actions now to make that safe.”