Lancaster firefighters are continuing to extinguish the fire in the large building which contains over 13,000 tonnes of compacted waste by using a specialist robot in a landmark trial.

Firefighters confirmed they have been trialling a new robot as it enabled them to get greater access to the fire without putting far at risk, and added: “We will continue to do as much as we can to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible.”

They added: “The demolition of the outbuildings and the removal of waste from the outer perimeter has been taking place over the weekend.

“The smoke plume has been fluctuating in terms of the volume, colour and smell and this will persist for a protracted period. The air quality is consistently being measured by Lancaster City Council.

“The safest place to be is indoors where you will be protected from the worst of the smoke if you keep the doors and windows closed.

“With emergency operations expected to continue for prolonged period, it would be advisable to avoid unnecessary travel near the area of the fire, both to reduce exposure to smoke and to allow the emergency services and other incident responders to have free access to the site.”

They said that the problem was that he fire involves 13,000 tonnes of commercial waste and seat of fire is beneath large quantities of compact commercial waste and pockets of fire can continue to smoulder deep within the piles for a long time.

The fire service spokesman added: “If you are experiencing health effects that you think may be related to the incident, seek medical advice by calling NHS 111 or by contacting your General Practitioner. “