THE owners of the landfill site engulfed by a blaze which could last for several days have warned people to dispose of their waste properly.

A Major Incident was declared by GMFRS at around 5.40am this morning after the fire at Viridor Recycling Centre on Pilsworth Road in Bury caused huge plumes of smoke across the surrounding area.

The blaze is believed to have started after a section of household waste measuring around 150m x 100m started burning at roughly 00.15am this morning.

And Viridor, a recycling, renewable energy and waste management company with hundreds of sites in the UK, has now warned people to properly dispose of rubbish that could start a fire.

A spokesman said: "The Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service responded and Viridor staff immediately implemented site safety procedures. There have been no injuries. Nine appliances remain on site to respond to the fire.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, however, known causes of waste site fires include hot barbecue coals, gas canisters, and batteries, including lithium ion batteries (commonly found in a variety of products such as eCigarettes, mobile phones, toys, cameras and laptop computers).

"Viridor asks residents to leave the ashes of barbecue coals to cool for at least 48 hours or thoroughly wet the ashes before placing out for collection. Items with lithium ion batteries should not be added to general waste but disposed of at recycling centres.

"Viridor is grateful to the Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service for its assistance."