800,000 tyre blaze closes village

A village centre was closed to traffic today as fire crews laid a giant pipe across roads and driveways to tackle a blaze at a tyre factory.

It is estimated that between 400,000 and 800,000 tyres were alight at Warsop Rubber Company, in Nottinghamshire, last night as more than 20 firefighters fought the flames.

It is not thought there were any casualties, but the incident caused severe disruption as Notts Fire and Rescue Service laid a high-volume pipe across Warsop to draw water from the River Maun.

The pipe, 12ins in diameter and solid when in operation, cannot be driven over so police had to cordon off the village to stop traffic.

Meanwhile, residents in Warsop and surrounding villages were warned not to open their windows or doors as the smoke billowed over the area.

A Notts Police spokesman said: "It's a considerable fire. It's not one that's caused any injuries but, because of its nature, it's going to take Notts Fire and Rescue Service some time to tackle it and it's leading to major disruption today and possibly tomorrow.

"Unfortunately those pipes cannot be driven over when in use so Warsop village centre is going to be effectively closed."

The pressure of the pipe will be relaxed every hour on the hour, for 15 minutes, to allow people to travel to and from their homes, he said.

A Notts Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said it was not yet known how the fire started.