A MAN was found dead and dozens were evacuated after a dangerous gas leak in Lowton.

Firefighters struggled to contain the ammonia leak at Stone Cross Enterprise Park on Tuesday.

Fire and police officers dealing with the incident at a cold storage unit on the park recovered the body shortly after 2pm. The body is believed to be that of a man in his 50s who was an employee of the company.

At its height, the incident involved more than 80 firefighters.

Ian Bailey, assistant divisional officer for Greater Manchester Fire Service, said: "This was a massive incident with 21 fire appliances present including engines, support vehicles and a specialist mass-decontamination unit provided by the Government to deal with major incidents, such as terrorist threats."

Officers were called to the industrial estate on Yew Tree Way shortly after 10am on Tuesday morning. Mr Bailey said: "When we arrived at the scene a roll-call was taken and we realised a member of staff was missing, so initially we had to try to locate the worker.

"The man was carrying out some form of maintenance work in the plant room at the time of the leak."

The firefighters' task was made more difficult by the contamination of their chemical protection suits with the dangerous substance and 'freezing cold conditions' inside the plant, a result of the ammonia gas, which is used as a refrigerating agent.

The gas and low temperatures meant that officers had to cope with poor vision from condensation in their masks and took several hours to find the body.

Mr Bailey said: "The man was heavily contaminated, so we had to be careful respectfully removing his body while working to close down the leak with help from onsite engineers."

As a precautionary measure, a number of neighbouring businesses were evacuated and people on the industrial estate were advised to keep windows and doors shut.

Pupils at Golborne High School and All Saints Primary School were kept inside during the lunchtime period as a precautionary measure.

A team of firefighters were still dealing with the incident at the time the Guardian went to press.