Great Blakenham: Recycling firm in pledge to boost security after blaze
Bosses at a recycling depot where a fire caused severe train delays have pledged to look at improving security if it is proved that arsonists struck the depot.
The blaze happened at the Bolton Brothers recycling and waste management depot, in Gipping Road, at 5.15am yesterday and damaged overhead cables which led to trains between Ipswich and Stowmarket being suspended until 5pm.
The depot is situated on the old Claydon Railway station, directly next to the train line, and Reuben Bolton, the company’s commercial director, pledged to look at the depot’s security if the blaze was caused by arsonists.
He said: “You always have to review what you’re doing because there’s always improvements to be made – we will look at that when we’ve spoken to the fire brigade.
“We have been situated by the railway line since we started and we have had a very good record.
“We’ve never had a fire since we started in 1969 and we are taking what has happened very seriously because we don’t want to inconvenience anybody.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
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Investigations into what caused the fire, which took two hours to extinguish, will continue today as investigators trawl through CCTV images.
Ian Mallet, station commander, added: “That (arson) is always an avenue that needs to be considered and it will remain very much an avenue that we will explore until we have concluded the investigations.”
The fire, which happened in a container filled with paper and plastic, was reported shortly after 5am and was extinguished by 7.20am.
Were you caught up in the delays and do you have a view on this story? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send an e-mail to star letters@archant.co.uk
