Firefighters extinguished a fire in the general waste container at the Deal Household Waste Recycling Centre in Southwall Road yesterday.

Two fire engines attended the scene at 1.20pm.

On site workers had evacuated the area before the emergency services arrived.

Crew manager Danny Yates said: “Somebody had put something alight in it. My guess is hot coals but there was no evidence to support that.

“We dragged out what was alight and put it out on the floor.

“We praise the actions of the staff who contained the fire until we arrived and emptied the place of cars.”

He added: “We would like to remind people to be careful with what they put in the tips.”