A BLAZE broke out early today at the giant Grangemouth oil refinery, fire and rescue services said.
The small fire started just after 2am when oil spilled onto piping at the plant in Stirlingshire.
A total of 40 firefighters with six engines and a command unit tackled the blaze, which was in a part of the site called the HydroCracker Unit.
Th
ey were at the scene for about three hours working with emergency staff from Ineos, the company which owns the plant.
No-one was hurt and the fire service do not know what caused the blaze.
A Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "The fire, which was described as being of only a small nature, was caused by a quantity of oil spilling on to pipework.
"There is no indication as to how it started."
Around 1,200 workers at the refinery went on strike for two days at the end of last month in a dispute over planned changes to their pension scheme.
While staff are now back at work the row has still not been resolved, though an end to the dispute may now be in sight as talks go on.
Ineos and the bosses at trade union Unite were said to be close to finalising a deal over the pensions row which led to the unprecedented walk-out.
The full article contains 235 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
