Firefighters from North Walsham and Stalham are tackling a blaze at a scrap metal yard in Marshgate, Spa Common, on the edge of North Walsham.

Scrap cars, containing upholstery, and cookers are believed to be among the items which caught fire at around 5.30pm today.

Watch manager Gary Miller said there was not believed to be any environmental hazard to the public. All potentially-hazardous liquids on the site ran off into an interceptor tank where they were safely contained.

Mr Miller praised the owners of the site, CBC Metal Merchants and Recyclers Ltd, who had used machinery to separate out and isolate burning items from the main heap before the brigade's arrival, restricting the spread of the blaze.

Firefighters were using hosereel jets to cool unaffected areas while leaving the metal to burn.

Mr Miller said the site's owners made items safe before they were scrapped but, inevitably, some fire hazards remained.

'They had been moving steel around and it caused some sort of reaction within the scrap metal,' said Mr Miller.

'For example, the ignition on a gas cooker could have been accidentally pressed - there is always going to be some sort of hazard with scrap metal, however careful you are.'

The site owners declined to comment.