A NEW warning has been issued about disposing of rechargeable batteries after one caused the latest in a series of fires at Lancashire's municipal tips.

On Sunday a 'dead battery' spontaneously combusted at Lytham Household Waste Recycling Centre.

At around 2pm, staff heard crackling and popping noises coming from the batteries bin and went over to investigate.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services quickly put the blaze out and stayed to monitor the temperature of the lithium batteries until they reached ambient temperature.

This meant that the site had to remain closed for the rest of the day to ensure safety for staff and visitors.

It was open again from Monday but the plastic crate was melted beyond repair.

This is the latest in a series of fires causes by batteries across Lancashire County Council's waste facilities.

At Preston Transfer Station, one blaze in June affected around one tonne of cardboard and, in April, one caused around 40 tonnes of recycling products to be lost as they had to be disposed of.

In 2023 there were 27 fires at Lancashire's waste facilities caused by rechargeable batteries that were not recycled properly.

In May, one burst into flames in a lorry just outside of Rossendale Transfer Station at Duckworth Clough, Haslingden.

And in October 2022 there were two fires were in Ribble Valley Council bin lorries.

The fire problem is caused by lithium-ion batteries, typically found in anything rechargeable such as laptops and mobile phones; nickel-cadmium batteries found in remote controls and all other rechargeable batteries which contain chemicals that can ignite.

As such they feature a crossed out bin symbol indicating they cannot be disposed of with general waste.

Common alkaline batteries are not considered hazardous and can be disposed of with household refuse.

Lancashire County Council's environment boss Cllr Shaun Turner said: "It is so important that all lithium ion/rechargeable batteries are disposed of in the right way, as even batteries that appear to be dead can spontaneously combust.

"Batteries can cause fires if they are damaged or crushed, leading to potentially deadly consequences – and this can occur at any time, as this fire shows.

"If you have a damaged battery please let a member of staff know.

"Batteries of all sizes can explode and set off fires, making them a very difficult item to handle.

"Please recycle these responsibly – including ones in items you may not have considered such as vapes, electric toothbrushes and singing birthday cards."