A BLAZE has broken out at a controversial rubbish dump in Oswaldtwistle.

Fire crews were called to the former Nipa Laboratories site in Nook Lane at 2.15am, and are still at the scene.

A spokesman for the Darwen crew that left the scene at 6am said: “When we got there, there were about 50 bales of waste well alight, and we managed to stop it spreading. There must be 500 to 1,000 other bags and bales up there.

“The main concern though was the water run-off from us tackling the fire. We didn’t want contaminated water entering the nearby brook.”

Officers from the Environment Agency are also on the scene to assess the sitaution this morning.

The site has hit the headlines in the past weeks after 400 local residents claimed their lives were being made a misery by a plague of flies coming from the illegally dumped waste.