Recycling centre to reopen after fire burned for two weeks

A Fife recycling centre will reopen on Monday after it was forced to close last month due to a large fire which burned for two weeks.

Emergency services were called to Lower Melville Woods Waste Facility near Ladybank on Tuesday 12 May.

At the height of the blaze, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said flames spread over approximately 200m x 300m (656ft x 984ft) of landfill waste.

Dozens of locals in Fife reported seeing smoke from nearby towns and even across the water from Portobello in Edinburgh.

Residents living near the site were advised to take precautions, and air monitoring data showed spikes in pollution on several occasions in the days following the outbreak of the blaze.

The fire service handed the site back to the council on 27 May, more than two weeks after the blaze started.

Operator Cireco said the clean-up continued and it was working with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and SFRS to assist on their investigations.

Fife Council said all public recycling services at the facility would resume and it would operate its normal opening hours, seven days a week.

From Monday, the nearby Cupar Household Waste Recycling Centre will revert back to its standard opening days of Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Cireco chief executive Robin Baird said: "The site clear-up has continued at pace, and I'm pleased that we're now in a position to reinstate access to the recycling centre from Monday.

"I'd like to thank our staff and partner agencies for their continued support. We're also grateful to the public for their patience while this work has been carried out."