The fire took 48 hours to bring under control

A large fire at a composting and waste wood recycling centre in Cambridgeshire, which broke out early on Saturday morning (5 February), has taken around 48 hours to bring under control.

At its height some 60 firefighters and 14 fire engines were tackling the blaze of approximately 1,000 tonnes of composted material and other waste at the Huntingdon Recycling Centre in Ellington.

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Crews were joined by personnel from the Environment Agency, Highways Agency and the United States Air Force, which helped with water supplies.

High winds on Saturday caused the fire to spread, with embers starting fires in the recycling centre’s main building, and in the loft of a one-storey building.

The nearby A14 was closed in both directions for a time.

By Monday morning, the fire was largely under control and the incident had been scaled down, though damping down operations were continuing.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

The site has had two other fires over the past six months which were found to be accidental.