A LANDFILL site in Wroughton was still smouldering today following a huge fire at the weekend.

Firefighters responded to reports of a glow in the sky in the early hours of Saturday morning as a result of the blaze at the Studley Grange landfill site on Hay Lane.

It is believed to have started about 3am but it is not yet known why. It affected a 300 by 600 metre area, and was still smouldering today. It was expected to be extinguished by tonight .

Steve Law, assistant divisional officer with the Wiltshire Fire Brigade, said: "The fire covered about two acres in size and I estimate a depth of around 15 to 20 metres.

"The likely causes at this stage are either spontaneous combustion within the heap, or it is possible that something was introduced into the heap which caused a reaction.

"There is little scope for investigation as there is no evidence for us to work with.

"The brigade is pretty much physically exhausted. It has been very cold without much shelter up there. The firefighters have done a great job."

Nearly every station within the brigade was involved in the incident throughout the weekend. The three exceptions were Tisbury, Mere and Amesbury.

It is estimated that in excess of 70 relief appliances have been used in total, with seven water jets maintained over the two days since the fire started.

Three brigade water carriers were in constant shuttle relay at the peak of the fire, each with a water capacity of 9,000 litres. They have been filling up outside the Hilton Hotel. More than 1,500 litres of foam concentrate have been used.

Divisional fire officer, Simon Routh-Jones, who was at the scene on Saturday, said: "All we know is that the fire was well alight when we arrived but it was a surface fire and had not gone deeper into the landfill. Once we had put most of the fire out, we had to spend time picking up the hot spots."

There was no danger to the public as there was no biohazard involved and the wind direction was away from most homes in the area and the nearby M4, in spite of earlier reports of visibility problems.

Residents living in remote homes near the area were contacted via the police about the plume of smoke that went across the fields and were advised to keep their doors and windows closed.

John Dresser, a spokesman for Biffa, which owns the site, said that most of the site consisted of paper and plastics from industrial and commercial waste.

"There is still steam coming off the site but we are trying to get the final bits of smouldering under control.

"We will be removing the burnt area into another section.

"We use shredded tyres to act as a bank 100 metres long and a metre high around the edge of the site to act as a safety barrier.

"We will certainly be looking into it as we are concerned about safety, but there was no danger to anybody."