Wigan trial to put out two-year underground fire begins

The fire under Green Lane has been burning for two years

A new technique is to be trialled in an attempt to put out a fire which has been burning underground for two years.

Colliery spoil left over from the industrial past has been alight under Green Lane in Leigh, Wigan, since 2021.

A three-week trial of injecting liquid grout to extinguish two fire hotspots is due to start this month.

Wigan Council said neither the underground fire or the trial poses a risk to nearby homes.

The authority has been closely monitoring the blaze at what is known locally as Queensway tip, alongside the fire service, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Aidan Thatcher, the council's director of place, said: "We want to be proactive in tackling the underground fire and ensure it continues to present no risk, and to reduce the impact it is having on the local woodland."

He said after the trial the council would evaluate how well it has worked and see if it is something they think they could successfully do across the wider site.

The site will continue to be closed to the public during the trial, he added.

The council is working with specialist designers and contractors Wardell Armstrong LLP and Landfill Projects.

Gavin Campbell, from Wardell Armstrong, said: "The work involves the placement of small quantities of a liquid grout to control and extinguish the fire.

"In the past, tip fires in the borough have been remediated by excavation, cooling and replacement. The trial will not involve significant excavations and should have minimal environmental impact."

"If the grouting trial is successful it could provide a quicker, cheaper and more sustainable method to extinguish the subsurface smouldering fill beneath a small part of the site."

Phillip Mellor, fire service station manager for Leigh said crews were helping with the efforts to "pave the way to a long-term solution".

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]