The Eastern Daily Press was cut to one edition yesterday after a blaze at the Archant Print Centre at Thorpe St Andrew on the outskirts of Norwich.

Flames ripped through one of the six print press towers, halting production just before 9pm on Monday. Fire crews had tackled the flames by 9.30pm.

Up to 35 people were evacuated and a contingency plan swung into operation which saw the Eastern Daily Press printed on the remaining towers at Thorpe and also at Mortons in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. The East Anglian Daily Times was printed at Archant’s Ipswich print works.

The fire started on the first floor of the print tower and spread, activating a sprinkler system.

The cause was last night being investigated.

Damage to the plant is believed to be isolated, with the fire starting inside machinery. The main problem has been smoke and water damage.

Archant Print managing director Nick Schiller said: “The whole print team did a magnificent job in the circumstances. We had off-duty staff who came in to help at Thorpe and we brought a full crew into Ipswich with only an hour’s notice. Some drivers went over to Mortons and the distribution team did a great job of getting all the papers out. We were also excellently supported by our specialist suppliers.

“Due to the commitment of the team and our contingency plan we managed the full print runs of 75,000 for the EDP and 45,000 for the EADT. The Evening News today will be printed at Thorpe and be out on time.”

The plant prints around 30 papers and 60 supplements every week, mostly for Archant titles. They will all still be produced, mostly at Thorpe but with some outsourced while the damaged press tower gets back to normal.

EDP editor Peter Franzen said: “It is the first time in its 137-year history that the EDP has been printed outside Norwich.

“Ten years ago we would not have had the technology and would have probably lost the EDP. I was so relieved that we got a paper on to the streets.”