Leyland recycling centre blaze caused by battery, council says

Firefighters battled the blaze at Farington Waste Recovery Park for around two hours

A "ferocious" blaze at a recycling centre was caused by a rechargeable battery, a council has said.

The fire, which took two hours to extinguish, started in a metal storage skip at the Farington Waste Recovery Park in Leyland on Saturday.

Lancashire County Council said the blaze was the third this year caused by batteries.

The authority reminded people to dispose of rechargeable batteries responsibly.

Councillor Shaun Turner warned that lithium-ion and rechargeable batteries could cause fires if they were damaged or crushed, "leading to potentially deadly consequences".

Batteries can be taken to local recycling centres or to most supermarkets, which tend to have recycling bins.

Mr Turner said: "Batteries of all sizes can explode and set off fires, making them a very difficult item to handle.

"Please recycle these responsibly - including ones in items you may not have considered, such as vapes, electric toothbrushes and singing birthday cards."

The incident follows a similar blaze at the Preston Transfer Station in June which affected around one tonne of cardboard.

In April, another fire caused around 40 tonnes of recycling products to be lost as they had to be disposed of.