Residents told to avoid the area as firefighters tackle huge blaze

Hampshire firefighters have been tackling a blaze which engulfed a huge pile of scrap at a yard yesterday afternoon.

Around 40 firefighters have been at the scene of the large fire involving around 3,000 tonnes of scrap metal.

Crews from Petersfield, Horndean, Emsworth, Cosham, Havant and Liphook were first alerted to the blaze around 12.30pm yesterday.

Pictures released by the fire service show the extent of the blaze.

Fire service tackling a blaze in a scrapyard (Image: HIWFRS)

Crews were faced with a well-lit fire by the time they arrived at the incident on Greenway Lane in Buriton, Petersfield.

In the early hours of this morning, relief crews arrived at the scene to take over from firefighters were first responded to the scene.

They worked into the night to continue tackling the blaze after support vehicles including water carriers and the aerial ladder first responded to assist with the incident.

Using onsite machinery, firefighters have been separating the metal to create fire breaks to limit the spread of the blaze.

Members of the public have been asked to avoid the area while crews continue to work to tackle the fire