Appeal to Peterborough householders to remove batteries from electrical items after recycling centre fire
An appeal has gone out to Peterborough householders to make sure they remove batteries before throwing away electrical items.
The plea comes from Peterborough City Council just days after a lithium battery was the cause of a fire that forced the temporary closure of the Household Recycling Centre in Fengate on September 26.
Black smoke could be seen pouring from a warehouse at the centre at about 10.30am.
Fire crews from Stanground and Dogsthorpe extinguished the fire that they say was confined to a skip.
A council spokesperson said: “We ask residents to check electrical items before recycling and to remove any batteries.”
She said there had been three minor incidents at the recycling centre over the year caused by batteries being discarded with the waste.
But she said the most recent incident was the most serious.
On September 17 a refuse lorry caught fire while collecting domestic bins in Crabtree, Paston.
The council said the fire was caused by a battery being incorrectly disposed of with other waste. It was the 24th battery fire incident in four years in Peterborough.
In July, a discarded battery was the cause of a fire in a refuse lorry operating in Ravensthorpe.
Three years ago one fire in a refuse lorry meant that repairs costing £15,000 had to be carried out to the vehicle.
Four months ago, Cambridgeshire fire service revealed that firefighters in Peterborough had attended a growing number of fires involving electronic devices such as e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as e-cigarettes and mobile phones.
In 2025, crews attended 29 fires involving batteries, the highest number then recorded, which also included disposed batteries igniting refuse lorries.