Firefighters in plea after bin fire incident

The appliance was called to the incident on Abingdon Street at noon today when the bin went up in smoke and flames.

A crew member used a bucket of cold water to successfully douse the fire.

But watch manager Warren Topp said the incident took a fire engine out of action when it might be needed elsewhere for a more serious case.

He said: “We would ask that people make sure their cigarettes are put out properly when they throw them away.

“If there had been a more serious incident at that time, we would have had one engine out of action.”