A council on Merseyside has become the latest authority to warn about the dangers of disposing batteries in general waste after one of its bin wagons was set alight.

Sefton Council said thanks to a quick thinking driver, the refuse lorry was driven from a residential street to a quiet country road so that the fire service could extinguish the blaze safely last week.

It said the fire was caused by a loose battery and that lives were being put at risk if the public did not take them to dedicated recycling points instead.

Councillor Peter Harvey, Sefton Council’s cabinet member for cleansing and street scene said: “Fire crews were called out to tackle the blaze, which took place at Tithebarn Lane, Melling, and managed to contain it.

“Fortunately, no-one was harmed during this incident, but it does illustrate how dangerous batteries in general waste can be.

“When batteries get squashed, punctured, or shredded during collection, they can get hot and catch fire. This can then ignite other waste in the vehicle, or at a waste transfer and disposal facility, and put staff at risk.

“We can all help prevent the potential risk to lives by taking any used batteries to one of the many dedicated recycling points that are available in shops, supermarkets and other locations as well as at our Sefton recycling centres.”

Fire crews put out the fire after the waste was removed from the lorry

Fire crews put out the fire after the waste was removed from the lorry

Source: Sefton Council

The council’s warning follows a series of bin lorry fires across the country this year, with Cambridge alone seeing seven blazes since January.

An HGV driver in Northamptonshire was commended for putting out a fire in his vehicle in 2022 after emptying a black wheelie bin into his wagon.

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