EYEWITNESSES heard a series of explosions ‘like fireworks’ before a major blaze broke out at a recycling plant last night.

Emergency services were called to Shee Recycling in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street at around 11pm.

Thick plumes of black smoke poured from the building, just off Durham Road, and huge flames could be seen from miles around.

Video: Tony Samms 

Read more: Everything we know so far after huge building fire in Birtley

Father-of-two Tony Samms, who lives in the nearby Barley Mow estate, said: “It was about 10.45pm when we first heard all of the bangs. It sound like a load of fireworks.

“You could see the smoke from my house. I walked down the front, it’s not even five minutes away, and you got Durham Road and all of the fire engines started arriving and the police.

“You could see the whole building was up in flames. The wind was really strong so they were struggling with to start with.

“The smoke was going north-east so not quite towards to house.

“We lost a lot of water due to fire brigade demanding the use of the water. It was down to a trickle.”

Read more: Recycling plant destroyed by huge fire was subject to criminal investigation

Shee Recycling in Birtley, was closed by the Environment Agency and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service last year because it was a fire risk.

Mr Samms, 52, said: “People are a bit annoyed that it was there in the first place.

“If it had been shut down it should have been cleared.”

Shee Recycling has been contacted for comment.

Video: Kevin Leo McCarthy

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: “The fire brigade is working hard to put out a very large fire in the Barley Mow area of Birtley.

"To do this, they are using large volumes of water from fire hydrants connected to our water network to fill multiple fire engines.

"Once we were made aware of the fire and the volume of water required by the fire brigade, we rerouted water to make sure all our customers in Barley Mow have water.

“Customers may experience lower water pressure than usual during these exceptional circumstances, once the fire has been put out and they’ve finished supplies will be returning to normal.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time. Updates can be found on our @nwater_care Twitter account.”

Northumbria Police has confirmed an investigation is underway.

Read more: Teenager arrested for arson after Birtley recycling plant fire 

A force spokesman said: "Firefighters are still working to extinguish the fire and ask people in the area to keep their windows and doors closed due to the large plumes of smoke.

"Officers are carrying out enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

"Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website or by calling 101 quoting reference number NP-20220207-1158."

Alternatively, people can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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