THOUSANDS of tonnes of sawdust which had caught fire have now been extinguished after a two day operation.

The fire brigade were first called to the premises of Edgar F Shepherd at Twinsburn Farm, Heighington, near Darlington, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A steel framed building measuring about 150m by 40 metres and containing nearly 3,500 tonnes of sawdust and loose woodshavings caught alight.

Firefighters battled for nearly two days to keep the fire under control and it was finally extinguished on Friday evening.

At the height of the blaze four five fire appliances from Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Durham were in attendance and eight sets of breathing apparatus were in use.

A spokesman from Darlington fire brigade, said: "The sawdust was in outbuildings and there was also thousands of tonnes which had to be moved."

Edgar F Shepherd supplies woodshavings and sawdust for use in a variety of application such as pet bedding and chip board manufacture.

It is not yet known how the fire started and fire investigators have been on the scene.