AROUND 40 firefighters spent ten hours tackling a blaze at a Hartlepool scrapyard.

It is estimated about 550 tonnes of scrap cars went up in flames at the yard near Hartlepool Lifeboat Station in the town's Ferry Road on Thursday night.

The fire could be seen up to four miles away at the Headland, and police were sent out to warn residents to stay indoors and keep their windows and doors shut as smoke drifted.

The blaze was spotted by a vigilant fire crew who were returning from a false alarm elsewhere at the marina at around 8pm.

As they made their way back to the town's Stranton fire station they noticed smoke coming from a compound within the premises.

When they arrived at the scene, fire had already taken hold of the compound and was threatening nearby warehouses.

Additional fire crews from Stockton and Billingham had to be drafted in to help tackle the fire.

Leading firefighter David Beech said: "We managed to stop the fire spreading to the building, it could have been a lot worse.

"As yet we do not know what started the blaze, but we got there in time."

Firefighters finally left the scene at around 6am today.