July 12, 2022 12.02 pm This story is over 20 months old

Mountain of rubbish blocks Lincoln road after bin lorry debacle

A fire on board the lorry caused it to dump its collection
What a mess! Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

People in the Swanpool area of Lincoln are having a bit of a rubbish day, after a bin lorry shed its load into the middle of a street.

A fire at the rear of the lorry caused the vehicle to dump its collection on Westwood Drive at around 9.30am on July 12, drawing firefighters to the scene.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said: “Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue attended a small fire at the rear of a bin lorry at 0930hrs this morning on Westwood Drive. Lincoln South appliance attended.”

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The waste caused some disruption for much of the morning, and remained for some time after the bin lorry and fire and rescue crews moved on.

Steve Bird, Assistant Director of Communities and Street Scene at City of Lincoln Council, said: “The cause of the fire is being investigated but it is suspected to be batteries discarded within dry household waste.

“It was a small fire which was quickly under control after the driver discarded the contents of the lorry onto the road to prevent it spreading further. Lincolnshire fire and rescue attended the scene to ensure the fire had been put out permanently.

“The load was then cleared from the road into another lorry.

“We would like to thank the fire service for their assistance and apologise to any local residents impacted by the incident. We would remind people to discard batteries at designated battery recycling points and not in with household rubbish.”