£3m cost of waste plant re-build

The extent of the blaze, which ripped through 2,000 tonnes of pellets stored in the plant sending a pall of smoke across the town for the better part of a day, can be judged by the cost of the repair.

Reprotech general manager David Watts said the bill will be of the order of 3m.

Mr Watts confirmed: "Re-building works are in progress at the moment. The aim is to put the place back as it was.

"It should be ready for use again in the Spring, early next year certainly.

"It is a big job. On the outside, we are doing structural work. On the inside we have a substantial amount of mechanical work to do. All the electrics have to be replaced.

"It was quite a substantial amount of damage..."

Last year's August Bank Holiday Sunday fire was fought by 75 firefighters from 11 different fire stations. It was unofficially blamed on spontaneous combustion among fuel pellets stored in the plant, though no fire report has ever been published. A similar fire destroyed further pellets stored at Rye Harbour while awaiting sale.