Fire breaks out in solar panels on roof of £70m Lidl warehouse in Peterborough

A fire has broken out on the roof of a huge £70m Lidl warehouse.

Smoke and flames can be seen billowing from solar panels on the budget supermarket's regional distribution centre in Waterworth Road in Peterborough.

The warehouse, located next to the A1(M), is the size of eight football pitches and serves nearly 50 Lidl stores in the region.

It opened in 2020 and employs more than 400 people.

Cambridgeshire fire service said they were called to the fire at 1.50pm.

A spokesperson said: "Firefighters arrived to find a roof on fire in a commercial building on Waterworth Road in Alwalton, Peterborough.

"A number of fire engines, a turntable ladder, a water carrier and our Incident command unit are currently on scene with more than 40 firefighters working hard to tackle the fire.

"Good progress is being made."

The state-of-the-art facility was fitted with enough solar panels to generate 10% of the total electricity required to run the building.

A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We can confirm that the fire service was called to our Peterborough regional distribution centre this afternoon following a localised fire on the roof of the building.

"All colleagues, contractors, and visitors were evacuated safely, and the fire has now been contained."

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