Fire rips through six-storey former silk mill
The fire is ripping through the six-storey former silk mill designed by William Sugden in 1857.
It was a centrepiece of the local silk industry, serving as the base for Wardle & Davenport, which employed up to 2,500 people.
A fire service spokesman said: “We have multiple crews in attendance at an incident at the Big Mill, Mill Street, Leek, where we are responding to a building fully alight. Please completely avoid the surrounding area.”
A council report last year revealed that the Grade-II listed Big Mill remained unoccupied. It has planning permission for 34 flats, StokeonTrentLive reports.
