Warning after battery causes bin lorry fire

Firefighters tackled a blaze in a bin lorry caused by an "improperly disposed battery", Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service has said.

Two fire engines attended the incident on Elvington Road in Lincoln at about 10:25 BST on Tuesday.

Photographs and video footage show a pile of waste burning by the roadside.

Lincolnshire County Council is warning of the dangers of putting batteries in waste collections and said they should be disposed of at recycling centres.

Rachel Stamp, waste partnership and projects manager at the council, said: "Batteries are hazardous waste, they can leak chemicals, cause fires and even explode when crushed or compacted with other rubbish.

"We see several fires in waste collection lorries and household waste recycling centres across the county. All these put our staff and firefighters who attended in danger and often closed sites and cancelled routes.

"Most people are doing the right thing, which is to bring your batteries and electrical waste to our household waste recycling centres and put it in the correct areas, but unfortunately, it only takes one battery in a compactor to start a fire."

It is one of several instances of fires in bin lorries caused by batteries in the county over the last few years.

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