EFFORTS to put out a huge fire at a scrapyard near Royal Wootton Bassett continued over the weekend.

Fire and a plume of smoke could be seen for miles when the blaze broke out at Swindon Metal Solutions Ltd, in Thornhill, on Thursday.

Fire crews have worked night and day since it started in a bid to put it out but are expecting to have to remain there for longer still.

Station manager Dan Cooke said: “We are making a lot of progress. The plan we had in place on Friday has worked very well.

“We have managed, working with the site staff, to get a mechanical grab working, which means we are now able to be quite aggressive with our tactics. We have been picking up stacks of cars to get to hotspots.

“If you imagine just a huge mass or twisted metal, rubber and pipes and nothing decent underfoot, that’s what it is like.”

Hundreds of cars have been damaged in the blaze and a firefighter was taken to Great Western Hospital on Thursday with suspected heat exhaustion. He returned home the following day.

Mr Cooke said there are still hotspots with cars and tyres alight.

“Thanks to getting the mechanical grab going we are hoping to draw things to a conclusion a lot sooner,” he said.

“The firefighters have worked extremely hard here and there has been a lot of co-operation from the staff.”

Compacted tyres created a smoke plume, which the changing weather conditions caused to drift in the direction of Royal Wootton Bassett over the weekend.

Residents in the area should not be concerned by the low-lying smoke, as it is sufficiently dispersed as to have no significant effects, other than the smell, which can to some extent be avoided by keeping windows closed.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is liaising with the Environment Agency and Environmental Health officers to minimise the problem as much as possible.

A fire service presence is expected to be needed at the fire for some considerable time yet.

The cause of the fire is thought to have been accidental but the fire investigation team will investigate when the site is safe.

Mr Cooke said: “This is a very challenging incident because of the scale and the size of it and the hazards the firefighters face.”

Roads surrounding the site are still cordoned off to the public. A pumping appliance and a water carrier remained at the scene yesterday.