AN INVESTIGATION was launched today after a second blaze was started on the proposed site for a new supermarket.

Naomi Cassidy

AN INVESTIGATION was launched today after a second blaze was started on the proposed site for a new supermarket.

Firefighters were still damping down at the Brett Works site in Pound Lane, Hadleigh, in the early hours of this morning- hours after the fire began in the derelict building.

The site is subject to a controversial planning application for a Tesco supermarket.

Four appliances from Ipswich and Hadleigh were called to the scene at 10.30pm to find that the building, measuring 10m by 50m, was fully alight.

Although the flames were put out by 12.15am, crews remained at the scene damping down until 4.30am.

The fire is the second large suspicious blaze on the site this year.

In March more than 50 firefighters from ten crews battled a blaze at the former factory. Flames engulfed the building, which was previously used for carpentry and metal fabrication, and also spread to a neighbouring derelict building.

A Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “This fire is being treated as suspicious. There will be a joint investigation with fire and police. It was quite a large fire. The cause is unknown at this time.”

One eyewitness, who wanted to remain anonymous, saw the latest fire and said: “We live about a mile away and we could smell the smoke from there.”

It was reported this week that the plans for the supermarket avoided a potential stumbling block after environment chiefs accepted the development did not pose a flood risk.

Tesco still has to meet certain criteria with regards to cultivation of land, evacuation procedures and a surface water plan, to limit the impact of any run-off at the site.

What do you think of the plans for a Tesco supermarket on the site? Did you see the fire? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk