A fire at a Darlington tip has been extinguished following extensive efforts by fire crews.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) have confirmed the blaze at the recycling centre off Whessoe Road in Darlington has been extinguished.

This comes after fire crews were alerted to the fire shortly after 5am on Wednesday (May 22).

They confirmed the fire was extinguished at 4pm today (May 23).

The Northern Echo: A fire at the recycling centre off Whessoe Road in Darlington has been extinguished following

Phil Innis, CDDFRS Group Manager, was the lead firefighter at the scene, he said: “This was a far from a typical fire – therefore it required a non-typical method to safely extinguish.

“The fire started within an industrial unit that houses general household waste – your everyday rubbish you’d find in the average kitchen bin.

“Meaning just applying water with a hose reel directly on the fire wouldn’t extinguish it.

“Instead, our crews needed to remove the smouldering waste – of which there was around 120 tonnes – bit by bit using specialist machinery.

“Once removed from the industrial unit, which is very smoke logged, crews then needed to dampen down the waste and ensure it had stopped smouldering.

“It was a lengthy job, but a rotating shift of firefighters worked through the night to get the job done.

“A massive thank you to our hard-working crews and thank you to the site owners, the Environment Agency and local authority for your support every step of the way.”

“I also want to thank locals for their patience and for heeding our previous advice to keep doors and windows closed.”

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Firefighters will remain in the area to carry out checks and the advice to keep doors and windows closed has now been lifted.

Three appliances, one Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP), a water bowser and around 20 firefighters were deployed to the scene of the blaze.

Darlington Borough Council will let residents know when the Household Waste Recycling Centre can reopen.