Engineers to inspect fire turbine

The fire on the turbine sparked a major alert

An investigation is taking place into a fire on a wind turbine which forced emergency services to cordon off a busy Sunderland road last month.

Eight fire brigade crews attended the Nissan car plant after fire broke out on the 51m-high turbine on 23 December.

Crews feared it would fall on to the nearby A19 but it eventually fell into a nearby field and burned itself out.

A crane will arrive on site this week to lift down the remains of the turbine for engineers to inspect.

Building work started on the £2m wind farm at the 750-acre site in September.

The six second-hand turbines, which are three years old and came from a wind farm on the continent, generate 7.5% of the factory's electricity.