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Roads remain closed after recycling site fire

Martin Heath
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Steve Hubbard/BBC Large thick black smoke clouds with orange flame visible beneath. There is a boarded-up building to the right, and further small white buildings to the left. There are people standing in front of the fire, including one in a yellow hi-vis jacket.Steve Hubbard/BBC
The fire caused a huge plume of thick black smoke

An investigation is under way after a huge fire at a recycling warehouse continues to cause disruption.

Roads remain closed around the Monoworld site in Rushden, where the fire took hold on Friday morning.

Northamptonshire Fire Service is telling people to stay away from the area.

Residents are being told to keep their doors and windows closed as a smoke flume is still visible over the town.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising over Rushden, and it was visible from neighbouring counties

More than 24 hours since the fire on Sanders Lodge Industrial Estate was reported, firefighters were still on site with an aerial appliance, two fire appliances and two high-volume pumps.

Mick Berry, incident commander, said: "The roads are going to remain closed into the weekend and we'll have a presence on scene all over the weekend as well.

"The messages that we said earlier about keeping doors and windows shut still remains.

"Please do avoid the area."

Mr Berry thanked local residents for their patience during the incident.

Steve Hubbard/BBC Bales of white-coloured waste stacked in five layers. Some of it is on fire and a huge black cloud of smoke is ascending from the fire. There is a warehouse building to the left with a brick ground floor and grey upper floor. There is a blue door. There is water on the yard between the building and the bales, with red hoses running across it.Steve Hubbard/BBC
The fire involved large quantities of plastic at a recycling warehouse
Emma Baugh/BBC A road closure, showing a red sign with white lettering "EMERGENCY ROAD CLOSED", a line of cones and a "no entry" sign. A triangular hashed area is adjacent to the line of cones on the road. A white lorry can be seen behind the closure. There are trees either side of the road and a wooden fence to the left.Emma Baugh/BBC
Several roads were still closed on Saturday morning

The road closures still in force on Saturday morning were the A45 slip roads on to and off Northampton Road, Ditchford Road and Masefield Drive.

Some parts of the Croyland business area were also closed off.

The Wellingborough and Rushden MP, Gen Kitchen, visited the site on Friday and said: "This was a shocking sight to wake up to this morning.

"I know local people are concerned about the impact of this fire so I was reassured by the presence of the Environment Agency at the site who have confirmed to me that they are monitoring potential pollution."

Emma Baugh/BBC Grey warehouse building to the right and blue two-storey factory to the left. There are trees in the foreground. Grey smoke is rising from the area behind the warehouse.Emma Baugh/BBC
Smoke was still rising from the site on Saturday morning

At its height, 15 fire crews, including some from neighbouring counties, were tackling the blaze and a major incident was declared.

There are no reports of any injuries.

Smoke from the site could be seen from several surrounding counties, including Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

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