Bin lorry fire - Larkspur Drive, Evesham leaves rubbish all over street

The fire broke out in Larkspur Drive, Evesham at around 4.15pm today, causing the binmen to eject the load. A mountain of rubbish could be seen piled up outside a house. 

Fire engine in Evesham after bin lorry fire (Image: Fire engine in Evesham after bin lorry fire)

A witness, who declined to be named, said the first he knew of the fire was smoke billowing out of the back of the bin wagon and that fire crews said it was caused by a lithium ion battery being crushed by the bin lorry.

He said the crew exited the lorry 'very quickly' and took some advice from the fire service. Two fire engines and 10 firefighters were said to be at the scene.

He described the flames as being two metres high at one stage.

"The fire was extinguished by the binmen but restarted about one minute later," he said.

The fire brigade put the blaze out only for it to restart 15 minutes later. 

The rubbish had not been returned to the crusher. "They knew there were more lithium-ion batteries," he said.