Recycling Lives issues statement following Preston fire over the weekend

On Saturday (April 23), a large fire broke out at the Recycling Lives site on the Rough Hey Industrial Estate in Preston, and the national company has spoken out about it for the first time.

The incident involved approximately 200 tonnes of pre shredded cars and metal and saw smoke dominate the skies around the city.

Longridge Road in Preston was closed from Bluebell Way to the junction with The Hills, whilst people were told to keep their windows and doors firmly closed, avoid the area and also J31A of the M6 due to smoke travelling over the carriageway.

Although fire crews were able to get things under control, it is still not known what caused the incident.

The CEO of Recycling Lives, Gerry Marshall, told the Post: “At approximately 1215 hours on Saturday 23 April 2022, a fire was reported at Recycling Lives’ Preston recycling centre in Longridge Road. Lancashire Fire and Rescue attended and dealt with the incident and there were no injuries.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Lancashire Fire and Rescue for their rapid response and the community for their patience and understanding while crews dealt with the incident.

“We are working with Lancashire Fire and Rescue to investigate the cause of the fire”.

In total, ten fire crews attended the incident, although this was reduced to four overnight.

This was not the first time the Longridge site has suffered an industrial fire, with crews having also tackled significant blazes in both 2015 and 2019.