Massive explosion at oil refinery leads to evacuation

A fire at an oil refinery in Stanlow, Cheshire has lead to a large evacuation as firefighters tackle the blaze

Firefighters are tackling a large fire at an oil refinery in Cheshire that produces billions of litres of petrol and diesel every year. An explosion at a Shell-owned plant, on the site of Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port, is being tackled by six fire engines. All 900 employees and 500 contractors of Essar Oil UK, the firm who own the building, have been accounted for. 16 per cent of all road transport fuels come from the site - four and a half billion litres of diesel and three billion litres of petrol. https://twitter.com/HelukabelUK/status/1032284683080478720 Cheshire Fire Service, which was called at 2.16pm, said: "Firefighters have been called to reports of a fire at Stanlow oil refinery in Oil Site Road, Ellesmere Port. "All staff have been accounted for and have been evacuated. "Crews are working with onsite firefighters to extinguish the fire which is believed to be in a manufacturing building within the plant." [caption id="attachment_196174" align="alignnone" width="732"] All of the staff at the plant have been accounted for (Credit: @thomodavie)[/caption] Essar said in a statement: "Earlier this afternoon a fire occurred at the SHOP chemical plant. "Both the site emergency services and Cheshire County Fire Service are in attendance to deal with the incident. "All personnel have been accounted for. Refinery operations at Stanlow remain unaffected."