Mystery surrounds Brighton waste centre blaze (From The Argus)

Mystery surrounds Brighton waste centre blaze

4:19pm Monday 13th July 2009 in

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Mystery surrounds the cause of a fire that wrecked a waste recycling centre.

The centre in Wilson Avenue, Brighton, is to stay shut for the next few days as inquiries continue.

Investigators from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spent several hours examining the scene after the fire was put out but have not been able to pinpoint exactly how it began.

They have logged the cause of the fire as unknown.

Sussex Police said that at this stage there is no evidence to suggest it was started deliberately.

The site is run by Veolia on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council.

A spokeswoman for the company said: “The site will remain closed until further notice while we continue to inspect the scene.

“We would advise anyone who needs to urgently recycle household waste to use our site in Old Shoreham Road as an alternative.”

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We would like to apologise to residents for any inconvenience caused.

“We are hoping to reopen the site in the next few days, but in the meantime we are asking people to put paper, card, cans, glass and textiles in the various recycling banks around the city and use the Old Shoreham Road site.

“Alternatively you can keep hold of your recycling until the Wilson Avenue site reopens.

“The closure is only expected to be for a brief period, so we are not expecting it to have a big impact on recycling rates.”

Smoke from the fire could seen from miles away at the height of the blaze on Saturday night.

Dozens of firefighters from Preston Circus, Roedean, Hove, Seaford, Newhaven and Lewes and two from West Sussex were needed to tackle the fire or provide cover.

The fire was out just before 10pm, more than three hours after it started, but firefighters stayed overnight and Sunday morning to make sure the area was safe and the blaze did not reignite.

It is the second time there has been a fire at the site.

In February 2006 the waste hall caught alight, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage.