Pictures: 40 firefighters battle blaze to 100 tonnes of plastic at Ellesmere recycling building

The fire, which involved plastic, took place at Ellesmere Sand & Gravel Co Ltd in Wood Lane at about 10.30am today.

Firefighters from Baschurch, Ellesmere, Prees, Wem and Whitchurch as well as the Environment Agency were called to the Tudor Griffiths Group site.

Jon Temple, Shropshire Fire and Rescue station manager based in Shrewsbury, said: "It involved about 100 tonnes of waste material which was waiting to be recycled.

"We had 40 firefighters, three officers and five appliances on the scene. It took about three hours to get it under control.

"When we got there we were faced with mainly smoke rather than flames. There were some flames at the top of the pile.

"There was no damage to the building other than smoke. The building, which was made of concrete and steel, was fully smoke logged."

Mr Temple added: "We are not sure how it started yet. A fire investigation is ongoing.

"When we got there individuals were around the site but they were not actually working in the building itself."

Crews used six breathing apparatus, four main jets and two hose reel jets to deal with the fire.