EIGHTY shipyard staff had to be evacuated after a fire broke out on a unit of a submarine.

Emergency services were called to one of the construction halls at BAE Systems late on Monday night.

A spokesman for the company said the fire was put out by BAE’s own firefighters.

Cumbria fire and rescue was called as a matter of standard procedure.

No-one was injured.

Dozens of staff were evacuated but returned to work shortly after before full production resumed.

The fire was not inside the Devonshire Dock Hall but bosses did not disclose the exact location, or which submarine unit the fire was on, for security purposes.

A BAE spokesman said: “Last night, our on-site teams responded to reports of a fire in one of our facilities.

“As a matter of standard procedure, Cumbria Fire and Rescue were called but the incident was dealt with safely and efficiently before they arrived.

“Shortly afterwards, employees in the facility returned to work and full production resumed.”

Firefighters were called at 11.20pm and were on site for two hours.

“We were carrying out an investigation of the incident,” said Barrow fire station manager Paul Milburn.

“The fire was extinguished quite efficiently and promptly upon the arrival of the fire service.”