Telford recycling plant fire: Blaze extinguished after nearly a month

Firefighters have been at the abandoned recycling plant since 26 April as 50,000 tonnes of waste burned

A fire that has been burning for nearly a month at an abandoned recycling plant should finally be out by the end of Monday, the fire service said.

The blaze at Greenway Polymers in Ketley, Telford, began on 26 April and involved more than 50,000 tonnes of burning waste.

Demolition work to take down the steel-frame building housing the rubbish finished at the weekend.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was "99% out now".

Its head of operations, Shaun Baker, said teams expected to extinguish the last "little bits" on Monday.

"We will be finishing off today but there is no more visible smoke and certainly no flames coming from the site," he said.

Work to demolish the building housing the waste finished over the weekend

Since the fire began, people living nearby have been asked to keep their windows and doors closed due to the smoke, although Telford and Wrekin Council said the health risks were low.

The local authority's leader Shaun Davies thanked firefighters for their "immense work over the last four weeks".

The Environment Agency said it was continuing to monitor the impact of pollution at the site and removing contaminated water.

More than 70 firefighters were called to the site at the height of the blaze in April and part of the nearby M54 motorway was closed for several days.

Six schools and a nursery were also shut for a period over air quality concerns.

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Two men have appeared in court charged with environmental offences related to the recycling plant but not directly connected to this fire.

The pair are due to next appear at Telford Magistrates' Court in June.