AN investigation is due to get under way following the second major fire at a North-East waste depot in the past three years.

At its height, 45 firefighters were tackling the blaze at Albert Hill Skip Hire, in Darlington, which started on Saturday (May 25) evening.

Smoke from the fire, in a 1,400sq metre warehouse filled with an estimated 5,000 tonnes of rubbish, could be seen for miles around.

Fire crews were hampered in their efforts to bring the incident under control, because of the location of the depot, on St Nicholas Industrial Estate, which is close to a steep bank down to the River Skerne.

No one was hurt in the fire, as crews worked through the night to bring it under control.

It was still smouldering on Sunday afternoon, with fire crews expected to monitor developments over the coming days.

A large fire on Albert Hill's property in 2010 led to criticisms over the management of the business, which was last year stripped of its waste permit following a series of environmental breaches.

No one from the company was available for comment yesterday (May 26).

Durham Police and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the fire would be investigated.

Residents in the Haughton and Middleton St George areas of Darlington complained of smoke irritation and were urged to stay indoors and keep windows closed as the smoke plume spread.

Group Manager Dominic Brown, of the fire service, said: “We are happy, having taken advice from the Environment Agency and our own hazardous material managers, that there is nothing particularly toxic about that smoke, it is just general smoke from fire.

"But even that could contain certain chemicals, so we ask people to avoid it if possible, but we are not particularly concerned. The fire is under control, there is no fear of it spreading outside the building, which was our first priority, to prevent that.”

Eight fire appliances were tackling the blaze at one stage, with crews dispatched from as far north as High Handenhold.

Mr Brown added: "Although we have had appliances here from across the county, we always had cover for other areas as well."

Albert Hill, an industrial area of Darlington, has been frequently blighted by fires in recent years, with similar-sized blazes in 1996, 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2009, as well as the 2010 incident at Albert Hill Skip Hire.