A County Durham bin lorry caught fire on Friday morning with contents having to be tipped onto a village green to be extinguished.

The incident in Gainford, near Darlington, led to firefighters being called out. They extinguished the blaze before the rubbish could be cleared away.

Luckily, no one was injured during the incident.

However, this marks the ninth bin lorry fire in the area this year, and the third in the last two months. In October a bin lorry caught fire on the motorway near Carrville causing lengthy delays.

Due to the size of the load in the lorry, the exact cause of the fire remains unknown, but there Durham County Council has a strong suspicion it was triggered by a lithium battery or vape.

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Durham County Council is urging people to refrain from disposing of batteries and vapes in rubbish or recycling bins, as both contain high-risk flammable materials like lithium when crushed.

Residents are advised to use recycling pods at most supermarkets and community venues for batteries.

Household waste recycling centres across the county also accept vapes and batteries.

The council further offers a recycling scheme for small electrical items, vapes, and batteries at 161 community venues throughout County Durham.

According to the council, details of its small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment scheme and its household waste recycling centres can be found by contacting the council directly.