AS investigations into a blaze at a Suffolk landfill site continued today, a fire officer warned the incident could have been significantly worse.As these new pictures show, a plume of smoke was sent into the sky shortly before 9am yesterday when a 40-tonne articulated lorry carrying rubber, fabric and plastic caught fire at Masons Recycling Plant in Great Blakenham.

AS investigations into a blaze at a Suffolk landfill site continued today, a fire officer warned the incident could have been significantly worse.

As these new pictures show, a plume of smoke was sent into the sky shortly before 9am yesterday when a 40-tonne articulated lorry carrying rubber, fabric and plastic caught fire at Masons Recycling Plant in Great Blakenham.

It took seven crews nearly two hours to douse the flames, which spread to an area around the vehicle.

Today, Gary Phillips, assistant chief fire officer, praised the work of the fire service and claimed there was potential for a more serious incident.

He said: “The crews attending worked swiftly and effectively to bring the situation under control.

“There was the potential for situation to escalated due to the location of the fire. However, the coordinated approached used by firefighters stopped this becoming a reality.

“Firefighters worked extremely hard in difficult circumstances.”

He said a fire investigation was on going to determine the cause of the blaze.

Meanwhile, the manager of nearby Blueleighs Mobile Home Park, Kim Kempster, said residents had concerns about the landfill site because of foul smells and noise.

Dan Cooke, a spokesman for Viridor Waste Management which operates the site, said: “Site staff spotted the fire and contained it initially with site water bowsers. The fire service arrived very promptly and seven appliances quickly contained the fire.

“Viridor is confident that the quick and effective action taken on site by trained employees and the emergency services should ensure that disruption to disposal services will be minimal.”