New photos show damage caused to roof of Wolverhampton battery recycling centre by early hours blaze

Fire crews were called to LiBatt Recycling Ltd on Lincoln Street in the Heath Town area of the city just after midnight on Wednesday.

Around 45 firefighters were initially sent to the scene where, on arrival, they found the blaze had affected two recycling bays.

Motorists were urged to avoid Lincoln Street and neighbouring roads while fire crews worked at the scene.

A neighbouring Royal Mail depot was meanwhile evacuated and was unaffected by the fire.

West Midlands Fire Service confirmed there was no casualties or injuries as a result of the blaze, which involved rechargable lithium ion batteries.

In a statement at 3pm, a spokesperson for the service confirmed crews had left the scene after finding that no hotspots remained.

New pictures taken at the site show damage to the roof of the building, which was scorched in the fire.

Fire crews could also still be spotted at the scene on Thursday morning.

It is the second blaze to have broken out at the recycling centre so far this year.

In January, 25 firefighters were called to the site after residents nearby heard the sound of an 'explosion'.

In response to the most recent blaze, a spokesperson for the Recyclus Group which owns LiBatt said: "At 12.08am on October 2, there was an isolated fire at Recyclus’ LiBatt plant in Wolverhampton.

"The company’s fire safety management protocols worked successfully as confirmed by the emergency services and the plant will reopen today after consultation with all the appropriate agencies.

"The fire broke out in a goods inward building and was contained within one of seven bays which is used to store batteries prior to processing, and is separate to the recycling plant. There was no damage to the other six bays.

"No-one was hurt and no other buildings or plant were affected. The burnt material will be processed through Recyclus’ system so that no materials are wasted or sent to landfill."