Mine staff evacuated as moor fire continues

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said the blaze had spread overnight

A fertiliser mine in the North York Moors National Park has been largely evacuated due to safety concerns as efforts continue to contain an ongoing moorland fire.

Emergency services have been battling the blaze on Langdale Moor, near the ballistic missile early warning base at RAF Fylingdales, since Monday 11 August.

Woodsmith Mine operator Anglo-American announced that all personnel apart from a remaining skeleton crew had been removed from the site as a "precautionary measure".

Heavy smoke has closed sections of surrounding roads, including on the A171 near Whitby, while North York Moors National Park has warned people to avoid the area "at all costs".

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service confirmed the fire had spread overnight at Fylingdales Moor, saying: "We would ask people affected by smoke to keep doors and windows closed."

It added that it had nine appliances, plus special appliances at the scene and partner agencies, were assisting with drones.

The road closures include:

• A171 Robin Hoods Bay turn to Cloughton

• B1416 Sneatonthorpe, from Dean Hall Brow to A171

• Gowlands Lane, Cloughton, on the Harwood Dale Road to A171

• B1416 with Lousy Hill Lane

• A169 Blue Bank from Moorgate entrance to Blue Bank, Sleights

• C224 Littlebeck, A169 to B1416 Redgates Corner.

• C78 Gainforth Wath Road, Staintondale.

• U2346 Raikes Lane, Sneatonthorpe.

North Yorkshire Police urged motorists to plan their journeys "for everybody's safety and to allow emergency services to access the area" after reports some were ignoring road closure signs.

"This is hampering the response to the fire and putting the motorists and other people at risk," the force said.

Smoke from the moorland fire over the coast at Sandsend near Whitby

Alison Hume, Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said the blaze was a "very difficult fire to fight", and thanked emergency services and volunteers for their ongoing efforts.

"This fire could go on for weeks or months because when the fire gets into the peat it burns along under the surface so they're damping it down on the surface but you don't know when it's going to pop up again," she said.

"That's what's happened overnight I think - it's flared up."

North Yorkshire Moors Railway confirmed all steam services would remain paused "for the time being" to avoid putting additional pressure on emergency services.

The diesel fleet was running on the planned timetable, it said.

Sharon Calvert, owner of Goathland Tea Rooms, said that Goathland village was currently clear, but had previously been affected by low-lying smoke.

"At the moment Goathland is fine and you can't even smell it, it depends on wind direction - but you can see the smoke billowing down the coast towards Whitby," she said.

Whitby resident Karen said she woke up around 02:00 BST to the smell of smoke, and looked out the window to see that the "whole town was smoke-covered".

She added that cars in her area were covered in ash, and that the same smoke smell was present when she arrived at her job at the Fish Box in Robin Hood's Bay.

"I'm hoping we get a lot of rain, to help the poor farmers and the fire engines out," she said.

"I'm just hoping everyone is safe and we can get back to some sort of normality."

Robin Hood's Bay resident Phil said the smoke was 'as bad as it's been'

Beverley Rutherford, from Hotel Victoria in Robin Hood's Bay, said it was the first time it had directly experienced problems from a moorland fire.

"For us, this is the worst I've seen it - the smell [of smoke] has been really bad during the night," she said.

"We've had to already send a couple of members of staff that live further afield home, and we're currently pre-warning our guests who are going to arrive about road closures so they can then make an informed decision."

Phil, a resident of the coastal village, said while the smoke had been around for several days, the smell in particular was "as bad as it's been".

"It's difficult with it being peat because it can flare up at any time. That's the difficulty the fire service have got, trying to predict where they might burst out next," he said.

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