Revealed: why rubbish was dumped on Clarence Road, Rayleigh

The waste was set alight in the dustcart after discarded batteries sparked the blaze, fire crews revealed.

Pictures show the large mound of refuse, which waste collectors had to clean up ‘by hand’, as it blocked Clarence Road, Rayleigh for most of yesterday.

Homeowners were stranded throughout the day, but were left impressed by the response from the waste teams.

On fire

A clean up operation was launched, with crews sifting through the waste by hand, sweeping it into nearby trucks as they went.

Simon Bishop, who lives on Clarence Road, said: “I was about to nip down to the shops, but I couldn’t get out.

“I could hear the sirens but didn’t realise they were so close.

“The rubbish was blowing everywhere.”

Wayne Davey, watch manager at Rayleigh fire station, expressed his relief the situation didn’t escalate.

He added: “Crews worked quickly to extinguish the fire before it engulfed the appliance which would have caused a significant amount of costly damage both to the appliance and the road.

Police, fire, and Suez waste crews were all at the scene, ensuring traffic wasn’t able to travel onto the road.”

Clean up - East News press agency

The teams cleaning the mound. Pic by Eastnews Press Agency

Mr Bishop praised the teams at the scene. He said: “The binmen are still shovelling rubbish onto numerous trucks to clear the pile, which appears to be growing as it is decompacting.

“They have a road sweeping vehicle running up and down catching rubbish as it blows down the road, and men with litter pickers trying to catch what they can.

“Essex Highways also turned up, presumably to see if the road surface is OK.

“The response has been quite impressive.”

The lorry which dumped the rubbish was taken back to the depot with fire damage, the Echo understands.

A spokesman from the fire service, said: “Firefighters were called to a bin lorry fire in Clarence Road, Rayleigh just before 10am this morning.

“On arrival, crews reported that a bin lorry containing mixed recycling was heavily smoke logged and worked to remove the recycling from the lorry to extinguish the fire by 10.30am.

“Firefighters believe the fire was caused by discarded batteries.”

A spokesman from Rochford Council added: “We have been informed the waste truck on the Clarence Road and Leslie Road junction had a contained fire in the rear of the vehicle on Wednesday morning.

“Fire crews arrived at the scene and the fire was put out.”

Rochford Council had urged passers by to “refrain from taking photos” to allow crews to clear the debris.