THE scale of the damage at Murfitt s Industries in Littleport has been revealed for the first time after the huge blaze which took hold there last week. Dozens of HGVs, industrial vehicles and warehouses have been left gutted by the fire which took hold o

THE scale of the damage at Murfitt's Industries in Littleport has been revealed for the first time after the huge blaze which took hold there last week.

Dozens of HGVs, industrial vehicles and warehouses have been left gutted by the fire which took hold of more than 200 tonnes of shredded tyres at the yard in Wisbech Road last Friday. Nearby tress have has their foliage and bark scorched.

The cause of the blaze, which is still alight after fire-crews opted to allow it burn itself out, has yet to have been identified by investigators, who are waiting for the thick smoke still coming from the scene to die down.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, who expect the fire to be burning for weeks to come, has defended its decision to allow the flames to burn-out stating, "We have discussed at length the options for tackling a fire of this nature. All agencies agree that the best course of action is to allow the fire to burn itself out.

"By allowing this to happen, the fire burns quicker and cleaner which means there is less and lighter smoke."

Fire service area manager Alan Brown, said: "I have been with the fire service for more than twenty years now and this is certainly one of the most challenging incidents I have had to deal with.

"When material like this goes up it becomes complicated to deal with because it becomes incredibly hot and forms a seal which then makes it hard for us to get water into the right area.

"We decided together with other agencies then that the best decision for the surrounding area was the let the fire burn itself out because to completely put it out would take thousands of gallons of water and would actually create more of the thick black smoke we saw last Friday."

To help residents with any queries about how the fire service are dealing with the incident an information point will be visiting the town on Friday and Saturday to take questions and provide details. The information point will be situated at the junction between Globe Lane and Main Road.