Waste4Fuel’s mountain of rotting waste in St Paul’s Cray caught fire again this morning (September 17) sending smoke billowing across nearby roads.

Three fire engines were at the notorious recycling plant in Cornwall Drive tackling the flames.

The fire brigade was called at 6am and the incident was declared under control at 9.56am.

The fire caused partially blockages on Cray Road southbound and traffic queues at Crittals Corner. The blaze comes less than two weeks after MPs for Orpington, Old Bexley and Sidcup, and Bromley joined forces to try to tackle the ongoing problems at the site.

James Brokenshire, Bob Neill and Jo Johnson met with Environment Secretary Liz Truss to discuss the abandoned recycling plant on September 4.

All three called on the Environment Agency to take more urgent steps to remove the estimated 15,000 tonnes of waste.

An operation to reduce the mountain began in August.

The local MPs also asked the Secretary of State to impose tougher financial obligations on firms applying for a licence to operate a site like Waste4Fuel.

Under the proposal, companies would have to stump up cash in advance which would be used to pay for the site’s clearance if they fail to comply with their licence.

Ms Truss agreed to raise their concerns with the Environment Agency chief executive.

She said she would assess what changes to the law need to be made.

In a joint statement, the three said they would continue to press for the site to be cleared as quickly as possible.

The MPs said: “It is simply unacceptable for the local community to be left with what amounts to a legalised fly tip on their doorsteps when an operator like Waste4Fuel does a midnight flit.

“We welcome the commitment to press the Environment Agency to consider all options to address the current problem and consider changes to waste regulations.

“There are serious questions which still need to be answered by the Environment Agency as to why they allowed things to go on this long and get this bad.”