WATER from melting snow and ice triggered an electrical fault at roadworks in Haworth, sending eight-foot high flames shooting out of a manhole in Bridgehouse Lane.

The Keighley fire crew was alerted to the problem shortly before 11am today. (March 8) Crew commander Neal Andrews-Parry said: "This was at the top of Bridgehouse Lane, close to the Baptist church, where there have been some roadworks going on to lay new broadband cables.

"There's a hole in the road with exposed electrics, and water from melting snow and ice had got into the hole, and caused the fire.

"At one point the flames coming out were eight-foot high, so we closed a 30-metre stretch of the road, from the top near Sun Street down to the Sue Ryder shop.

"All we could do was go into defensive mode and keep pedestrians and traffic away until Northern Powergrid could come out and isolate this part of the network."

He said once the electricity engineers arrived they were able to effectively deal with the fire, enabling emergency workers to re-open Bridgehouse Lane at about 1pm.