Firefighter 'hopeful' recycling blaze will end

Firefighter Craig McLellan said 12 crews had been called to Hovefields Avenue, in Basildon, on Saturday morning

Fire crews are hoping to extinguish a fire at a recycling centre "once and for all" as they spend a seventh day at the scene, a senior firefighter said.

Essex Fire Service sent 12 crews to Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, in the early hours of Saturday,14 September.

Area manager Craig McLellan said he was "hopeful" crews would clear "a few remaining pockets of smoke" by the end of Friday.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is yet to be concluded, but nothing currently suggested it was suspicious, Mr McLellan said.

Firefighters and a demolition firm have been working to deconstruct a warehouse which had collapsed on top of about 5,000 tonnes of unprocessed waste, he explained.

"With large volumes of waste like this that are deep seated you can't just put water over the top," he said.

"With the plastic content, it would just run off, so you have to dig out every piece of waste and move it in order to extinguish it.

"We will still be popping back and monitoring over the weekend… but our 24-hour presence will probably come to an end later today."

Pat Reid said people living near the scene were worried

Pat Reid, who represents the area on Basildon Borough Council, said people living nearby had been "very worried" about the fire.

"There are a lot of people that are suffering from smoke inhalation and things like that, although we have been told the pollution was fairly low and is not dangerous," said Ms Reid, a Labour councillor.

Many residents felt recycling sites should be further away from residential areas, she added.

The latest advice from the fire service was for nearby residents to keep their doors and windows closed.

Fire crews were first called to the scene at about 01:15 BST on 14 September