Fire in a skip at Wellingborough tip believed to have been started by a discarded battery

Residents are being urged not to bin their batteries and ensure they are safely and properly recycled following a fire in a skip.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a fire at the household waste recycling centre at Paterson Road, Wellingborough just after 3pm yesterday (May 29).

A large skip containing general waste was on fire and crews from Burton Latimer and Rushden started using a hose reel jet and a 45mm jet on arrival to douse the flames.

The fire was quickly put out and dampened down.

An after-fire investigation revealed that the fire had been started accidentally due to a battery being discarded in the general waste skip.

People should only recycle batteries using specialist recycling services – and this will help prevent fires happening in refuse collection vehicles and waste facilities.

Residents should ensure that they never put any batteries into their wheelie bins, and when visiting a household waste recycling centre you should notify staff if you have any batteries that you want to dispose of or recycle before doing so.

You can also look online to find out if a nearby supermarket has a dedicated battery recycling point.

For more information, visit www.recyclenow.com/recycle-an-item/batteries