Fire crews remain at landfill blaze into evening

Crews are set to continue tackling a large blaze at a Leicestershire landfill site as long as daylight allows, a fire service has said.

Smoke was seen coming from the Cotesbach Landfill, off Gibbett Lane in Shawell, near Lutterworth, at about 08:15 BST on Saturday.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue service sent crews from Lutterworth, Wigston and Leicester’s Eastern Station to the site, while Northamptonshire’s brigade sent crews from Rugby and Kettering.

About 250 sq m of household waste weighing 1,000 tonnes had caught fire, crews reported.

Site machinery was used to drag out the burning refuse for the firefighters to extinguish.

At the height of the blaze, six appliances and three water carriers were in use for the operation.

People living in the area were advised by police to shut windows and doors due to large amounts of smoke, and people were asked to avoid the area during the incident.

One appliance and one water carrier remain on site with staff there assisting fire crews by digging down to reach hot spots to be doused to prevent flare-ups.

A fire service spokesperson said teams would remain on site while daylight allowed, with a decision on maintaining a presence overnight to be made in due course.

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