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| Smethwick blaze: Suppliers asked to stop lanterns sale | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Chinese lanterns suppliers have been urged to stop selling them after one caused a blaze at a recycling plant. | |
| A team of firefighters is still at the scene of the fire, involving 100,000 tonnes of plastic, at the Jayplas depot in Smethwick, West Midlands. | |
| The government has rejected a ban, but Sandwell Council wants retailers to voluntarily stop selling the lanterns. | |
| Leader, Councillor Darren Cooper, has backed a ban after MP for Warley, John Spellar, voiced concerns on Tuesday. | |
| Mr Cooper, the head of the labour-run authority, said: "They may look very pretty when in the air, but this massive fire has shown just what damage they can cause. | Mr Cooper, the head of the labour-run authority, said: "They may look very pretty when in the air, but this massive fire has shown just what damage they can cause. |
| "We will also be asking our trading standards officers to check local suppliers and sellers of Chinese lanterns asking them to withdraw them from sale." | "We will also be asking our trading standards officers to check local suppliers and sellers of Chinese lanterns asking them to withdraw them from sale." |
| 'Molten plastic' | |
| A Devon superstore has already withdrawn the lanterns from sale in response to the fire. | A Devon superstore has already withdrawn the lanterns from sale in response to the fire. |
| A spokeswoman for Chaplins, which has stores in Plymouth and Taunton, hoped other retailers would follow suit. | A spokeswoman for Chaplins, which has stores in Plymouth and Taunton, hoped other retailers would follow suit. |
| The government previously said the number of fires caused by lanterns was "very small" and there "needed to be a proportionate response". | The government previously said the number of fires caused by lanterns was "very small" and there "needed to be a proportionate response". |
| West Midlands Fire Service said it was working with the company whose diggers were helping create channels into the "molten, crust-covered plastic" for firefighters to dampen down. | |
| A spokesperson for the service said: "We expect to remain there at least for the rest of the day. | |
| "A decision will be made in due course as to when it will be safe and appropriate to leave the scene and make regular revisits rather than maintain a continual presence." | |
| At its height, more than 200 firefighters attended the blaze, which began at about 23:00 BST on Sunday and caused an estimated £6m worth of damage. | |
| Twelve firefighters were treated for injuries, three of whom were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. | Twelve firefighters were treated for injuries, three of whom were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. |
| The blaze, which covered an area of about 90,000 sqm, was described by the fire service as one of the biggest it had dealt with in the West Midlands. | |
| It said it was the 15th fire at a waste recycling site it had dealt with in the past year. | It said it was the 15th fire at a waste recycling site it had dealt with in the past year. |
| West Midlands Police said roads around the fire had reopened although part of Brasshouse Lane remained blocked. | West Midlands Police said roads around the fire had reopened although part of Brasshouse Lane remained blocked. |
| Pupils were back at Galton Valley Primary School after two days of closure. |