WE HEAR THAT KANGOL IS ON FIRE IN MORE THAN ONE WAY

A MAJOR fire was narrowly avoided at the former Kangol factory on Monday night after vandals attacked the building with fireworks. According to a report we heard they “smashed an extractor fan at the Cleator site, now Bollman Headwear, and pushed a lit firework into the canteen area. The Roman Candle-style explosive, which measured about 18 inches in length, went off, sending about 10 smaller fireworks across the room. Blinds, work surfaces and the extractor fan sustained damage.

But operations manager Robert Tanti said it could have been much worse. “It was potentially very serious. It fired all over the canteen but miraculously didn’t cause a larger fire,” he said. “The blinds and work surfaces have scorch marks but if it had gone into a box of paper towels it could have worked its way round the whole factory. It could have caused thousands of pounds of damage. The Bollman hat factory employs 55 people. Police are appealing for witnesses and are trying to trace fingerprints from the firework.”