A LOUD explosion was heard in Ramsbottom after a gas bottle was accidentally shredded at a waste management site.

The incident at Wheeldon Brothers, in Kenyon Street, happened at about noon on Friday, and the explosion blew a small hole in the roof.

The incident did not cause a fire, and fire crews were not called out to the site, but Environment Agency officers attended.

A nearby resident, who lives about 50 metres from the business, said: “It was very loud, and it was clear that something had happened, but I wasn’t sure quite what it was.

“I could see people leaving the building and nearby businesses with their hands over their ears. It was a very loud bang.”

The company shreds commercial, industrial and domestic waste, and has sites in Bury, Oldham and Ramsbottom.

The Ramsbottom site is used to convert waste, which cannot be recycled, into fuel to be used to power factories, heating systems or power plants.

John Wheeldon, the company’s managing director, played down the incident.

He said: “I thought there would be no roof when I heard about it, but the hole was the size of your hand. It was a cylinder of a size that campers would use.

Mr Wheeldon said that the firm would do more to inform people about what is appropriate to be recycled at their site.

He added: “We shred thousands of tonnes a day and you can’t inspect it to that degree.

“We put letters out about how much waste we have recycled, and we will put out a letter letting people know that they can’t recycle items such as this.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We were contacted about a loud bang which came from the Wheeldon Brothers recycling plant in Ramsbottom. The site operates an industrial shredder which turns pre-sorted waste in to solid recyclable fuel which can then be used to produce energy.

“An Environment Agency officer visited the site and established that the cause of the noise was a small pressurised container which has been missed during sorting and put through the shredder.

“We are satisfied that there is no environmental impact, but have asked the site operators to review their waste acceptance criteria.”