Compton Bassett landfill site was on fire on Sunday

Crews from fire stations in Calne, Devizes and Chippenham, along with water carriers from Royal Wootton Bassett and Ramsbury, were needed to extinguish the 25m x 25m blaze which took over the Compton Bassett landfill site.

Hills Waste Solutions, who operate on the site, said: "A member of the public detected a fire at the Lower Compton landfill on Sunday and alerted the Fire & Rescue service who attended the incident at 6.15am.

"Hills Waste Solutions’ employees were also on site to assist with bringing the fire under control.

"The Lower Compton landfill was not open at the time of the incident and no personal injury or damage to property has occurred as a result of the fire.

"Lower Compton landfill opened for normal business on Monday morning, September 2.

"The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is being investigated."

Mike Hill, chief executive of The Hills Group said: “Our employees are well trained and followed the on-site emergency procedures for this type of incident.

"I would like to thank the Fire & Rescue services for their quick response and our contractors, Jones Brothers, who assisted with the use of earthmoving equipment to move soil to extinguish the fire.”

Julian Barlow, of Compton Bassett Parish Council, said: “We were made aware of a fire at the Hills facility over the weekend by some residents who were adversely affected by an acrid smell emanating from the tip.

"Whilst not a regular occurrence this happened before and it is not acceptable.

"The company has promised in the past to manage its site in a professional and appropriate manner and we will be making representation to Hills to establish the facts and to gain assurance that this will not happen again.”

On Facebook, former high sheriff of Wiltshire, Nicky Alberry, thanked Calne Fire Station for their 'quick' work and said the 'smell of the smoke was horrible'.

A similar blaze happened at the site in May 2018, and took over a day to extinguish.