Fire crews extinguish blaze at Belfast recycling plant

Up to 40 firefighters have tackled a large blaze at a vehicle recycling plant in Belfast's docks area.

The fire at Clearway's premises began at 2100 BST on Saturday night and took six hours to extinguish.

Lenny Entwistle of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said 500 tonnes of shredded rubber and plastic were alight.

He said it was believed the fire was "accidental".

"Five fire engines, a command unit, high reach appliance and high-volume pumping unit were used to fight this large fire," he added.

"We had to put two fire breaks in place that stopped the fire spreading to a warehouse and their multi-million pound machinery operation.

"If it had got to the machinery, people could have been out of work.

"It produced large plumes of thick, black acrid smoke which spread to the Titanic Quarter area and the Odyssey area."

Mr Entwistle said Clearway staff had worked alongside firefighters and used "two mechanical grabs to separate the shredded rubber and plastics".

"They were quick to the scene to separate it, so we could extinguish the fire," he said.