AROUND 20 members of a village have been peacefully protesting outside of a recycling centre, after a large fire broke out at the start of the month.

Community members from Liverton Mines, east Cleveland, spent two mornings protesting outside of Greenology Plastic Recycling Centre saying they think it should close, after a large fire caused residents to complain of breathing difficulties, nose bleeds and soot filled homes.

Speaking on Wednesday, Danielle Harris, who lives in St Helen's Walk in the village, said: "We have seen today the plant is starting to fill back up with recycling as lorry loads have been coming in and out and the new stuff is there we will be going up tomorrow morning to make our feelings towards this know."

Residents stood, observing the two-metro social distancing rule, outside of the recycling centre holding banners which said 'Stay away this is our Liverton Mines' and '#ToxicGreenology'.

Danielle said: "We as a community went up yesterday. We went up and parked our cars today and did a peaceful protest. The police arrived with the owner, at first they said it was okay for us to be there. But they came back and said because of coronavirus we had to move on. We did stay to stop the wagons."

Residents believe that the wagons being brought to the recycling centre are carrying additional plastic waste than was previously there.

"We were literally stopping the wagons full of plastic getting in the site," Danielle said.

Cleveland Police said that as far as they were aware they were not aware of any plans for the site to reopen and it is remaining closed and that there is still an ongoing investigation with the fire brigade regarding the fire.

Laura Hepburn, Director at Greenology, said: “No new business activity is taking place on site at the moment. Our responsibility is to reinstate the site, rebuild the building and clear the land of damaged material in a legal and responsible manner working with the relevant authorities. Prior to the fire, Greenology recycled mixed plastics sustainably, to divert it from landfill and incineration; some of the stock on site was going to be recycled into much needed covid contracts here in Teesside. As this stock has now burned, we now need to ensure it is disposed of in a way that meets the Environment Agency’s standards.

“Clearing the site will take time. We started this process earlier this week, but due to protesters gathering outside, we have had to stop until such time that it is safe for staff and other agencies to enter the site again. We cannot allow our team undertaking the site clearance to be put at risk.

“At a time of a national crisis, we ask that all authorities work together to allow us to clear the site as soon as possible. The current situation prevents us being able to do this and therefore prolongs an already difficult situation for the local community and us as a business.”