A FIRE involving 100 tonnes of waste in an Accrington quarry is being monitored by fire crews this morning.

The blaze started in the Rake Quarry in Kings Highway at around 10.40pm last night.

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The fire has not been extinguished due to fears over contaminated water seeping into surrounding land.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue has been liasing with the Environment Agency and the owner of the quarry to monitor the incident.

A fire service spokesman said: “It involved around 100 tonnes of waste.

“The judgement was if the fire were to be extinguished more damage would be caused to the environment in terms of using water which could have seeped into the ground.

“The judgement was it was better to let it burn out.

“The water can pollute streams and water sources. It is sometimes a better solution to let it burn off, but obviously that is to be controlled to ensure it does not affect anyone in terms of smoke.”

Crews returned to the scene at 2.30am and 7.30am this morning and will be monitoring it for the rest of the day.