A BATTALION OF firefighters have been deployed to tackle a “very large and dramatic” fire in a recycling plant in England.

The J & A Young plant on Dartmouth Road, Smethwick, West Midlands is still smouldering and the West Midlands Fire Service said that it had over 150 firefighters in attendance. Thirty-five fire engines have been sent to the scene after the alarm was raised at 11pm yesterday.

The service warned that a smoke plume had risen 6,000 feet into the air and could potentially affect air travel.

The BBC is reporting that nine firefighters were injured to varying degrees and three had to be taken to hospital after they were affected by the intensity of the blaze. A local school, Galton Valley Primary School, was closed this morning because of the toxic plume and residents warned to stay indoors – around 100,000 tonnes of plastic recycling material went up in flames.

This photograph was taken by West Midlands Fire Service at the scene last night:

The service called on off-duty firefighters to report for duty this morning to help out:

Meanwhile, locals say that the fire is now “snowing ash” in the area.

This Instagram video (via @ClaireSwallow) shows the smoke plume still pumping into skies in the area.