2012-11-30 14:02:15 - Harris Balcombe have been appointed to manage a substantial claim resulting from a fire at a crisp factory in South Wales

A local man has been charged with arson and intent to endanger life after a fire at a crisp factory near Crumlin in South Wales.

The blaze at Real Crisps was tackled in the early hours of the morning, burning for almost seven hours and spreading quickly because of large quantities of oil on site.

Fortunately the 50 firefighters that attended the blaze managed to extinguish the fire before it reached external oil tanks adjacent to the building – avoiding a potentially far more hazardous situation.

Even so there was a real threat to the environment causing the fire service and Environment Agency Wales officers to set up a series of barriers around the area to contain the water and prevent unnecessary leakage

into the local environs.

Real Crisps is owned by a company called Tayto and the site at Pen-y-Fan Industrial Estate, Croespenmaen, in Crumlin, is the only factory in the UK to manufacture the Real Crisps brand. They employ around 115 people at the site.

Claims involving this level of loss are always complex and as you would expect Zurich, the insurer, has appointed loss adjusters to represent their interests (in this instance VRS Vericlaim).

Harris Balcombe's task is to make sure that Tayto, the owners of Real Crisps receive a fair and equitable settlement.