Dalton Mills fire: police investigating another suspected arson at Peaky Blinders filming site

More than a dozen fire engines were scrambled to the site in Dalton Lane on Saturday evening, with the Victorian textile mill once again ablaze.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said that while there were no casualties there was significant smoke, with huge black plumes billowing throughout Keighley.

Today (28 July), West Yorkshire Police announced Bradford CID were investigating the fire as a suspected arson.

The force said: “It is a being treated as a deliberate ignition by the fire service and a crime of arson has been recorded.”

Saturday’s fire was the fourth at Dalton Mills in the last four years. In June 2024, crews attended after two of the floors of the building caught alight.

There was a further fire at the derelict Grade II-listed mill in September 2023, despite Bradford Council claiming the site was secure.

In 2022, a blaze left the building an empty shell. Two teenagers were convicted with arson over this incident. They are awaiting sentence.

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore said the latest fire was “absolutely infuriating”. “At this stage, I can’t thank our emergency services enough for all their efforts and bravery as they continue to fight to put out this major fire and to ensure all are safe,” he said.

“Should any investigations conclude that arsonists are yet again involved, they should expect the full force of the law to hit them hard.

“I have been raising the case for months now with the Crown Estate and other organisations who have legal oversight that the site is not secure, easily accessible and that it is only a matter of time before the next major incident takes place. This current situation simply cannot continue. Dalton Mills is a jewel within Keighley which needs protection and restoration.”

The mill was built in the 1860s and the complex had been partially restored before the alleged 2022 arson, with the clock tower renovated as office and studio space.

Northamptonshire businessman Paul Harris bought Dalton Mills, which had been disused since the 1980s, in 2013, and announced plans to turn it into an arts, cultural and Asian wedding venue. However, the main building was never restored. Instead the mill floor was hired out for TV filming and has appeared in Peaky Blinders and Downton Abbey.

According to Companies House, Mr Harris's firm Bellissimo Workspaces Ltd had not filed accounts since 2018 and in 2020 was served with a compulsory wind-up order - which would have meant forfeiting assets. In November 2022, it says the company was dissolved.