A DISCARDED lithium-ion battery is thought to have caused a fire in a bin lorry in Wellington, on Thursday morning (July 9).

Wellington firefighters were called to tackle the incident after one of the waste crews spotted a plume of smoke coming from the back of their vehicle.

A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “Crews exhausted every option to inspect the load, but unfortunately had to dump the load.

“We relocated to the recycling centre in Poole, which is not a landfill, to do this.”

“The fire burnt out, but inspection was needed to ensure the vehicle and staff were safe.”

The spokesperson said people should make sure they did not discard hot ash or batteries when putting out rubbish for collection.