Firefighters remain at the scene after a massive waste fire broke out at a farm in the Whiley Hill area of Darlington last night.
Around 1,000 tonnes of rubbish went up in flames at a farm prompting a multi-agency response.
Firefighters from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service battled the blaze to keep flames under control and minimise the environmental impact.
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Residents were urged by authorities to keep their windows and doors closed.
A County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said: "Firefighters remain at the scene of a large waste fire at a farm in the Whiley Hill area of Darlington.
"Crews, along with partner agencies will continue to work together to separate the waste and extinguish the fire as soon as possible while minimising the risk to the local community and the environment.
"Plant machinery has now arrived at the scene which will be used to effectively separate the compacted waste."
At around 5.30pm on Monday evening, a crew from Newton Aycliffe was working to extinguish the flames.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown, with fire crews working tirelessly to extinguish the flames.
Group manager, Rob Cherrie, said: "We are continuing to work with our partners from the Environment Agency, Darlington Borough Council, Durham Constabulary and The UK Health Security Agency to effectively manage the scene.
"Due to separating the large amount of waste, we are expecting the smoke plumes to increase temporarily, however this approach will allow us to deal with the fire quicker and we would again, like to thank the local residents for their patience and also ask anyone in the vicinity of the farm to keep their windows and doors closed.
"We are continuing to do everything we can to bring this incident to a safe conclusion as quickly as possible.”
"At this time, the cause of the fire is unknown."
