FIREFIGHTERS are back at the Waste4Fuel site in St Paul’s Cray this morning tackling a fire which has broken out in the mounds of rubbish.

This is the fifth blaze at the premises in just over three months, including a nine day blaze in mid-March, and is reportedly being tackled by four crews.

Waste4Fuel in Cornwall Drive has been served with an environmental permit suspension notice by the Environment Agency and told all combustible waste had to removed from the premises by June 10.

A site visit by the EA and the London Fire Brigade the following day revealed only one third of the materials had been removed.

The site is said to have been complying with the rate of removal set by the EA but it was underestimated how much waste is stored on the premises.

In an email sent to residents and the ward councillors on Tuesday, the site’s general manager Michele Foulds said: “At a recent meeting with the Environment Agency we have again agreed to continue to work to this level moving forward until the site is back within its bays and below the levels required.

“Concrete blocks have arrived on site today to start the process of building solid bay walls allowing us to segregate the waste as highlighted in our site plan.

“We are just waiting for our second delivery of scaffolding which should arrive this week so we can continue to build the boundary netting and fencing .

“We continue to have staff on site 24/7 but work on a Sunday will now be minimal and will be based around machine maintenance and erecting the fencing around site.

“We are currently looking at taking in less waste material and more recyclable materials that we can dispose of through sales.

“This will generate more funds which will enable us dispose of the normal waste pile at a quicker rate.

“We did run a trial last week which was successful.

“We are looking at costings for this now.”