FIREFIGHTERS battled for three hours and used nearly 22,000 litres of water to douse a blaze which started after 30 tonnes of rubbish were set alight.

The fire at Wolverley Plant & Skip Hire, the site of a major arson attack in February 1999, involved caravans, tyres, paint tins and aerosol cans. The Kidderminster crew used two water jets and a foam jet to extinguish the inferno at the Kingsford Lane site.

Owner Phil Stanford said: "It appears somebody has come on to the land and started this deliberately, but there is a lot of large open space here which has been targeted here before."

Environment Agency officials were immediately called to the scene as a precaution because vehicle tyres had been among the rubbish.

A spokesman said: "It will probably be about another week until we know if there has been serious damage to the ground. The water was soaked up by a sandy track the blaze was lit on so there may be no lasting damage."