Lorries at waste site set on fire 'deliberately'

A fire affecting 10 skip lorries at a waste site in Epsom, Surrey, is believed to have been started deliberately, police have said.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to a business in College Road at about 22:30 BST on Wednesday, with 10 appliances sent to the incident.

Road closures remain in place at the junctions with Longdown Lane and Reigate Road.

Police confirmed that no one was injured and that several explosions had been heard by residents, while the fire service said two crews are still damping down and will be on site for some time.

Insp Tommy Pearson, police commander for Epsom and Ewell, said: "We received several reports of large explosions last night and I know this will have caused serious concern within the community.

"I would like to reassure residents that we are investigating thoroughly to establish the circumstances and find those responsible. If you have any information, I urge you to get in touch with the police."

The Environment Agency said an investigator had been sent to the site.

Ward councillor and resident Julie Morris told the BBC she heard explosions at about the same time the blaze had been reported to the fire service.

"It was 10.32 and there were four or five explosions which shook my elderly house," she said.

Another resident Mark Whiting told BBC Radio Surrey he heard "what sounded like gunshots" as he was watching television.

"I looked out the window, saw nothing," he said, "then there were some more spread over the next half hour or so.

"Everyone was out seeing what's going on, big smoke plumes coming out, heading in the opposite direction, luckily for us, but pretty nasty black smoke coming out of there."

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