TEN fire engines were needed to bring a massive blaze under control at the weekend after a scrapyard went up in flames.

Thick, black smoke could be seen 15 miles away after oil at Tomlinson's car reprocessing business accidentally caught fire on Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds of people gathered at vantage points around the town to watch as the fire quickly spread to about 2,500 tons of scrap metal at the yard, on the Belle Vue Industrial Estate, in Hartlepool.

Although no gas cylinders were on site, as first feared, explosions could be heard as tyres and empty petrol tanks exploded with the heat.

A 200-metre cordon was placed around the premises and neighbouring businesses were evacuated, while more than 50 fire officers from across Cleveland tried to quell the flames.

Incident commander Mike Picknett, from Cleveland Fire Brigade, said staff at Tomlinson's first reported the blaze at about 12.45pm on Saturday.

"When we arrived, the fire crews set about trying to extinguish the fire, but our immediate problem was a lack of water pressure in that area of Hartlepool," he said.

"However, we also had to protect the recycling plant, which had millions of pounds worth of equipment inside, while also confining the fire to the site.

"We managed to do both of those things and, in total, had 55 personal on the scene and ten appliances.

"It was at about 4pm when the fire was at its height, but the fire continued all night."

He said the major part of the firefighting operation ended at 6am yesterday, but fire crews were not expected to be off-site until last night.

And he praised workers at Tomlinson's, which is a car recycling plant.

He said: "We worked to contain the fire inside the plant and, with the help and aid of staff utilising their machinery, they started to dismantle the heap of burning metal.

"I have high praise for Tomlinson's staff, who worked right through the night under the supervision of, but alongside, our fire officers.

"They did make our job a lot easier and they were very professional. And clearly, the firefighters worked very, very hard over a long period of time to help protect the business."

A police helicopter was scrambled with a fire officer on board, who used thermal imaging equipment to monitor the blaze, and 20 police officers, community support officers and specials were drafted in.

* Firefighters spent several hours containing a tyre blaze which sent a thick black plume of smoke across Darlington on Saturday afternoon.

Crews were called to deal with the fire on wasteland in the Green Street area, off Yarm Road, at about 4pm.

Police were also asked to assist in case there was a health risk to nearby residents, but that proved not to be the case.