AN investigation has been launched after the wall of a recycling factory collapsed earlier this morning.

Emergency services were first on the CEW site just after 9am on Lock Street in Merton Bank. An ambulance and several fire engines were on site, including a search and rescue team.

Members of the council’s Environmental Health and Building Control teams attended and found that a gable end wall had collapsed.

The collapse affected the buildings in the immediate surroundings, including a new substation, which luckily had not yet been commissioned and was not in use.

There were initial concerns that people may have been trapped, but this proved not to be the case.

A council spokesman said that there were no wider environmental issues, including smoke, dust or smell, associated with the incident.

The owners of the building are now securing the site.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Group Manager Chris Case, St Helens District Manager, said: "Once the building was declared safe we sent in a Search and Rescue Team and the Search and Rescue dog. Due to the depth of the debris, we had to take away the top layer of brick to make sure that nobody was underneath."