Suffolk fire crews tackle Sackers recycling centre blaze

Credit: Andy Smith/Twitter The fire at Sackers in Great Blakenham, Suffolk.
Local residents were told to keep their windows and doors closed due to a large amount of smoke. Credit: Andy Smith/Twitter

Fire services have spent hours tackling a large fire at a recycling plant.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service were called to the fire at Sackers in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, just after 3am on Saturday.

Social media users posted videos of the blaze and were told by the fire service to keep their windows and doors closed due to the large amount of smoke.

At 1.30pm, the fire service said the fire was "under control".

Mainline Greater Anglia train services which run between Norwich and London Liverpool Street were temporarily halted because of the fire.

Fire crews tackled the blaze throughout the night. Credit: Andy Smith/Twitter

The track runs parallel to the Sackers site, so trains to and from Ipswich were disrupted.

National Rail confirmed lines had reopened by 9am, but Greater Anglia said some services were still cancelled.

The fire service said "good progress" had been made on reducing the fire.

Andy Smith, Area Manager for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, tweeted just before 8am on Saturday: "Good progress being made thanks to the hard work of all crews, officers & partners on site.

"Great support from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Combined Fire Control."

Firefighters worked throughout Saturday morning to get the fire under control. Credit: Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service

Ian Mallet, Incident Commander, said the service was scaling down on the incident.

He said: "We are currently undergoing a downsizing of our resources on the scene which will see approximately six fire appliances left on site.

"I'd like to thank the recycling site and Network Rail.

"We will be here for most of the day and urge local residents to stay indoors with their windows and doors shut."

It was one of the biggest news stories of our time - and it's still not over. So what did Boris Johnson know about Downing Street’s notorious parties? With fresh revelations from our Number 10 sources, in their own words, listen to the inside story...