Fire rips though huge rubbish tip

Fire tore through hundreds of tons of rubbish at a depot in Darlaston today.

The blaze broke out in a large rubbish pile at AB Waste Services, in Cemetery Road, on the border of Wednesbury and Darlaston, shortly after 6am.

It follows a large timber fire at a rubbish depot in Tipton on Friday, which caused five hours of disruption to trains between Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Firefighters at the Darlaston site used a hydraulic lifting platform to tackle the fire and were still at the scene at 9am to damp down the smouldering rubbish.

This morning, trucks arriving at the site with full skips were being held at the entrance. The firm sends 90 per cent of its waste to recycling facilities.

Cemetery Road remained largely blocked today as two fire engines stayed on to survey the scene. And an investigation into the cause of the blaze has been launched.

AB Waste Services, which hires out five different sizes of skip to individuals and businesses, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Friday night's fire at Bloomfield Recycling in Tipton is now being treated as arson following an investigation by fire chiefs.

More than 60 firefighters were called in to tackle the blaze, which destroyed 1,000 tons of timber and caused flames to lick 50ft into the night sky.