FIRE crews are currently battling a large waste fire in Darlington as nearly 1,000 tonnes of waste is set ablaze.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service have said that crews and partner agencies responded to the incident at at a farm in the Whiley Hill area of Darlington, which has escalated over the weekend and currently a crew from Newton Aycliffe are also at the scene.

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Phil Innis, group manager at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, has said work is underway to “minimise the impact on the environment.”

He said: “We are working with our partners from the Environment Agency, Darlington Borough Council, Durham Constabulary and The UK Health Security Agency to effectively manage the scene.

“The plan is to separate the waste to extinguish the fire and minimise the impact on the environment as quickly and effectively as possible.

“However, due to the large amount involved, this work is expected to continue, and we would like to firstly thank local residents for their patience and also ask anyone in the vicinity of the farm to keep their windows and doors closed.

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“Thanks to our crews and our colleagues from our partner agencies who will be working tirelessly over the coming days, we are doing everything we can to bring this incident to a safe conclusion.”

At the moment fire crews say the cause of the fire is unknown.

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