Bomb disposal experts were called to Lister Mills in Bradford today after a “suspicious liquid” was discovered near a burned-out car in its underground car park.

Police closed roads around the mill while the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit carried out a controlled explosion just after midnight.

An hour and a half earlier, firefighters had been called to the mill site, in Lilycroft Road, when a car caught fire in the car park.

Crews from Fairweather Green and Idle were called and found plumes of black smoke pouring from vents in the roof of the underground car park at about 11.45pm.

Inside, they discovered a Land Rover Freelander on fire. The blaze had spread to six other cars in the secure car park.

A fire service spokesman said it was not clear how the fire started.

Fairweather Green watch manager Steve Brown, said: “The car that was on fire, the Freelander, was completely destroyed and the one next to it was as good as, with burning down its side and its windows gone through.

“The fire happened underneath the two large mill buildings. Smoke was pouring out of the car park ventilation shafts.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said road closures were in place around Lister Mills shortly after midnight while the bomb squad carried out the controlled explosion.

Police and the fire service are investigating the cause of the initial blaze and how a suspected explosive liquid came to be in the underground car park.