Crews on standby after 400,000-tonne bark blaze

Fire crews spent four days at the Weston Longville blaze

A fire service said its crews will remain on standby in case a major woodchip blaze re-ignites.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) finally pulled its crews out on Sunday after four days fighting flames in 400,000 tonnes of woodchip at TMA Bark in Weston Longville, near Norwich.

NFRS said it had got the blaze - which broke out at about 20:15 BST on Wednesday - under enough control over the bank holiday weekend to be able to hand the site back to the owners.

"It's been clearly a difficult time and stretching our resources... it's a busy time of year for us," said NFRS's Jim Banks.

About 400,000 tonnes of woodchip caught fire on Wednesday

"If they see any fires or anything breaks out beyond their control, they can call us back and we'll attend," he said.

"They [the site's owners] manage the incident going forward."

Crews from 39 of the service's 42 stations went to the fire.

Smoke could be smelt across the Norwich area on Thursday morning, with reports the odour had even got as far east as Acle.

Mr Banks said NFRS would be on site this week taking away equipment, including a water supply which would have been used if the fire had escalated.

He said it is not known yet how the fire started.

Smoke could be smelt across the city of Norwich and as far east as Acle

On its website, TMA Bark described itself as "one of the UK's largest suppliers" of barks, mulches and woodchips to amenity managers and landscapers.

The BBC has contacted the company for comment.