FIREFIGHTERS have spent the night battling an ongoing blaze at a recycling plant in Ellesmere Port.

The Recresco facility was evacuated yesterday (Tuesday, August 14) at around noon after smoke was seen coming from a paper storage building at the site on North Road.

It was later established that around 600-700 tonnes of recycling paper and plastic had gone up in flames, in two separate warehouses on the site.

Five fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were sent to the scene.

There are not believed to be any injuries and crews have been pumping water from the nearby Manchester Ship Canal to extinguish the flames.

Crews used water jets in two areas and a diesel tank had to be cooled. A police helicopter was used to monitor the blaze and check if it looked likely to spread.

At 5pm yesterday a spokesman for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters remain in attendance at the scene, the crews are using water to tackle the fire.

“The team are also starting to spread out the waste as the extinguish the fire to ensure that it does not reignite.”

At 8.30am today the spokesman added: “Firefighters remained at the scene overnight, tackling the fire.”