Tyre fire smoke 'visible from space'

More than 15,000 tonnes of tyres at a recycling plant in Yorkshire have sent up a plume of black smoke than can be viewed from space, after being set on fire.

The cause of the blaze at the Newgen Recycling plant, which is located in Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Leeds, is not yet known, though since being lit on Thursday morning it has reached heights of up to 6,000ft, polluting the North Yorkshire sky.

In a bid to discover the extent of the fire, investigators consulted images captured by a Nasa satellite, which showed a thick column of dark smoke towering into the sky and rising above the clouds over Yorkshire and other parts of northern England.

Dozens of firefighters from across Yorkshire were dispatched to the plant, which is located on Lennerton Lane, early yesterday morning, though North Yorkshire's fire chief Nigel Hutchinson expects the blaze to continue raging for days before it dies out.

As a precaution, aircraft set to take off from nearby airfields have been grounded, while residents and school pupils have been told to stay indoors as the smoke from the fire billows over nearby villages.

"It is a significant fire and one that is difficult to tackle. It's the sort of incident that will go on for days," he told the BBC.

"We are anticipating a large part of the stack, if not the whole stack, being involved. It is a significant fire and one that is difficult to tackle. It's the sort of incident that will go on for days."

North Yorkshire Police added that the plume of smoke is so high in the sky that there is little risk to the public, while a Public Health England spokesman has said that no reports of any people experiencing ill effects from the fire have been received, though the impact on the environment is not yet known.

Environment Agency officers have now arrived at the scene to help minimise the impact on the air and water, while fire crews will remain on site overnight and are using ground monitors to create water curtains to protect nearby buildings.