Marsh ward Councillors, Cllr Mandy Bannon, Cllr Gina Dowding and Cllr Nick Wilkinson have written to residents of the ward with important information about the former Supaskips building on the Luneside Industrial Estate.
A fire burned there for several weeks from December 2023 to January 2024, after the company had illegally stored waste inside the building.
On the afternoon of Monday 18th August 2025, another fire was started. Lancashire Fire & Rescue attended with 3 fire engines and brought it under control in three hours.
The cause is not yet known – it is being investigated by emergency services. What is known is that several young people had been sighted on the roof and near the gantry of the chimney in the days leading up to this recent fire – and astonishingly, on the night of the fire itself, after the emergency services had left.
In their letter the Councillors say:
“We understand that the building’s internal stairway access has now been blocked and that ladders inside and outside the building have been removed. But we are still extremely concerned that young people are putting themselves in grave danger by accessing this building, which is structurally unsafe following the fire of Dec 2023. Tragically, a local 12 year-old boy lost his life by falling through a roof on the same industrial estate in August 2017, when he was playing with friends. We do not want to see a repeat of this sort of tragedy.
“Please be assured that, as your councillors, we are working with Council officers to do everything in our legal power to protect against children entering the site and potential fires starting again.”
what the Council has been doing to try and make Superskips safer for the community
- Breach of the security fence repaired. Cllr Mandy Bannon pushed for the City Council to repair the three breaks in the security fencing that had not been properly repaired by the owners, despite the Council’s repeated requests. Legally, we had to give the owners a deadline and after that lapsed, the Council paid a contractor to repair the fence. The company that owns the building will be billed.
- Reporting on-site trespass. Whenever we have been told by residents that they have seen or heard people in the building, we have immediately raised it with the Council’s Chief Officers who then liaised with Police and the Council’s Building Control team.
- Increased patrols by Police and emergency services. We are pleased that the Police have responded positively to requests for extra patrols in the area.
- Pursuing compensation from the owners. The Council had to spend around £2m to dispose of the burnt waste in December 2023 with only some of the cost picked up by Government.
- Holding the owners responsible. The Environment Agency (as the waste regulator) was responsible for bringing the case to court. Their press release summarises:
A 28-year-old man from Whitehaven has been sentenced at Preston Crown Court, to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work.
He was found guilty of seven offences relating to illegal waste operations at three sites on the Lune Industrial Estate that led to a major fire in December 2023.
The Environment Agency found that thousands of tonnes of combustible waste were stored in breach of permits, with operations continuing after a suspension notice.
The fire, linked to the abandoned waste, caused significant disruption and clean-up costs of over £2 million.” - Challenging the undue leniency of the sentence – Ward councillors and council cabinet members are very concerned about the leniency of the sentence handed down to the defendant. Given the scale of environmental crimes committed, we have tasked officers to investigate making an appeal to the Government’s Attorney General – to ask that the sentence is made subject of a formal review.
- Lobbying for legal changes in the future. The Council has written to local MP Cat Smith asking her to put pressure on the Government to give public bodies more powers in these circumstances.
What You Can Do
In the summer/light evenings/weekends, young people may be tempted to explore derelict buildings like Supaskips.
Please could parents be extra vigilant: check what children may be doing and tell them about the dangers of climbing onto roofs of buildings.
If you do see or hear anybody in the Supaskips building please report it to the Police as an emergency by calling 999. And do please also report to the council. You can phone the Council’s Building Control team on 01524 582952.
You can also contact any of your ward councillors with any information or concerns:
Cllr Mandy Bannon – mbannon@lancaster.gov.uk Tel: 07813 334018
Cllr Gina Dowding – gdowding@lancaster.gov.uk Tel: 07838 793674
Cllr Nick Wilkinson – nwilkinson@lancaster.gov.uk Tel: 07966 626446