THE cause of a huge fire at a toy supplies company near Bradford city centre remained unknown last night.

It was the second blaze at the Simba Smoby Toys site in little more than a month.

About 60 firefighters, made up of 15 crews from across the Bradford district, including Odsal, Shipley and Bradford, tackled the blaze at Broomfield House in Hall Lane.

Two aerial appliances were also used in the firefighting operation.

The blaze was contained to the loading bay and warehouse area of the site and led to a roof collapsing.

A West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue spokesman yesterday confirmed the cause of the blaze was still unknown with a fire investigation team at the site.

A crew from Bradford fire station also remained at the scene yesterday.

Damian Brown, a group commander at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The fire was coming through the roof when we got here.

“It was a large developing fire. It was difficult conditions inside for the fire crews, it was very dark.

“No-one was in the building at the time.”

Ronnie Goldwater, station commander at Bradford fire station, said the volume of emergency calls made to the control centre in the early stages of the fire at about 5am on Saturday prompted the initial large deployment of appliances.

He added: “Twenty per cent of the building was involved when we first got there and of that 100 per cent was involved.

“We had to send in firefighters with breathing apparatus and large hoses to deal with the blaze and they all did a great job.”

Nearby roads, including Mill Lane, were shut on Saturday.

Northern Gas Networks and Northern Powergrid staff were also called to the scene.

Residents in Hall Lane were advised to shut their windows and doors but no-one had to leave their homes.

One Hall Lane resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I’m shocked. It has happened before there as well.”

There was a large fire in a section of the site’s warehouse in Bolling Road on July 3.

The operation to put it out involved 70 firefighters.

The company supplies products made by Smoby, which is France’s largest toy manufacturer, and is part of the Simba Dickie Group.