A waste and recycling centre which has been closed since April after a blaze ripped through the building is set to reopen.

The Pepperhill household waste and recycling centre in Gravesend will reopen next Monday after it was closed by KCC following the fire on Saturday, April 21.

The blaze broke out in the household waste bay in the waste transfer station the site in Station Road, Southfleet.

The cause of the fire is still not known due to the quantity of waste taken into the site.

Testing on the building following the fire found dangerously high chloride levels produced from the various types of waste which burnt in the fire.

A full two-month decontamination process by specialists was necessary which was followed by several weeks of work to renew lighting, doors, concrete walls, electrics, the sprinkler system, CCTV and cladding.

The Environment Agency has now provided approvals to FCC Environment, the contractor which runs Pepperhill, that the site can reopen.

The reopening will be welcomed by householders in Medway too as the Cuxton household waste and recycling centre had been busier since the closure of the site in Pepperhill.

Kay Groves, KCC waste services manager, said: “I appreciate the closure of Pepperhill has been extremely inconvenient for people wanting to dispose of their waste.

“It was necessary for our contractor to complete significant amounts of cleaning and decontamination to protect human health.

“The results of further testing has confirmed it will be necessary to remove and renew sections of the roof area to the main building at a later date.

“This work will be extensive but completed over several months and will be carefully planned to minimise disruption by avoiding a full closure where possible.

“The scheduling of these works is at the planning stage and further updates will be provided when the plan is defined.

“I would like to thank people for their patience and understanding, we would hope that it is recognised that the primary focus has to be safety of those that use and work at this waste site.”