Battery warning after spate of bin lorry fires in Peterborough - with repairs to one truck costing £15,000

Residents are being warned not to put batteries in the bin – after a spate of bin lorry fires left trucks damaged.

The latest fire happened in Hampton on 21 January and was the second such fire this month, after a similar fire in Woodston on January 11.

The latest fire saw bin crews tip rubbish out in the car park of Serpentine Green as they extinguished the flames.

In the past year, there have been six bin lorry fires in Peterborough, with most thought to be caused by badly disposed of batteries.

The fires have cost thousands of pounds to fix the trucks, and also resulted in disruption to services.

A spokesperson for Peterborough Limited, who run bin services in the city, said: “Bin lorry fires are becoming more common, we have had 2 in the last 10 days. They cause a significant amount of disruption but thankfully none of our crews have been hurt.

"The fire on the 11th January has resulted in the vehicle having to be returned to the manufacturer for repairs – if the same had happened to the vehicle fire on the 20th November then residents would have been affected, with two vehicles out of action.

"There is an impact on our staff, rounds are delayed and the time has to be made up, we are calling out Fire & Rescue services (away from other incidents) and then the streets have to be cleaned up.

"Repairs are costly, in 2022 one fire caused £15,000 worth of damage to a vehicle.”

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “Incidents like this can sometimes be caused by batteries that have been thrown in with household rubbish.

“Batteries can be a fire hazard, especially when they are compacted and damaged when mixed in with household waste. The spark can ignite the highly reactive lithium, leading to a fire.

“We would urge residents to make sure they dispose of batteries correctly at the appropriate recycling facility.

“To safely dispose of them, batteries should be taken to local recycling centres, or, for household batteries, many shops have collection bins in-store.

“You can find your closest collection point online.”