HEALTH warnings have been issued to trespassers who are going on to the site of the former Celanese Acetate chemical plant and putting pictures they take there on the internet.
The demolition of 200 buildings on the Spondon site will begin in June to make way for redevelopment.
And people are taking the opportunity to see the industrial wasteland left behind after Celanese Acetate ceased production there in November 2012.
But one resident living near the site has told of his alarm after people came through his field to get to and from the site – causing his goats to escape into a nearby car park.
Peter Ambler, 68, of Holme Lane, said he had a seen a family with children about to try to enter the plant.
The police, who stopped a man from going on the site on Sunday, and Celanese Acetate's Dallas-based owner, Celanese, have warned people of the dangers of entering.
The web pictures were posted by a person going by the handle "Chemical Ali" on a website for "urban explorers" called UK Urbex.
They show images of metal stairs, pipes, dials and containers for chemicals.
Mr Ambler said people had been getting on to the site on a regular basis for the past "three or four weeks".
He said: "I'm worried about these people. If they turn one of those horrible valves on the site, who knows what could come out?"
A police spokeswoman said that the first sign of trouble on Sunday was at 10.10am when they had a call from a person saying they had caught two men trying to get on to the site.
She said that when officers attended they "found a man walking close by and carrying a camera".
The spokeswoman said: "Apparently he thought he could enter at weekends to take photographs. We gave him suitable advice. We got another call at 4.25pm from security saying that at 2.15pm they had escorted four men off the site."
PC Vicki Marriott, of Chaddesden and Spondon Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "We would like to warn members of the public not to enter the old chemical plant.
"Calls have recently been made to us informing us of trespassers on the site taking photographs. This is very dangerous as the site is derelict and there are clear signs stating not to enter."
A spokesman for Celanese said it provides 24/7 security surveillance for the site which it "believes is adequate for its current status".
He said: "The interest in the plant is understandable, having been a major employer in the area.
"However, we would like to stress that entering even a non-operational chemical production plant without qualified supervision is neither safe nor responsible.
"Every case of trespassing is taken seriously and we take the necessary steps to involve the relevant authorities to deal with the matter.
"Even though the plant was decommissioned during the closure period, we would like to point out that the machinery and the buildings are hazards to one's safety."
Demolition of the 200 buildings will take a year and, though there are potential users, no firm plans for how it will be redeveloped have been announced.
