A fire at a dump for organic waste this morning has been extinguished.

A fire service spokesman said the blaze was caused by the spontaneous combustion of dry tree waste.

Sergeant Allan Wilkinson said; “Trees that are stored for a while can ignite on their own especially in dry weather and we have had no rain.”

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze, which took 45 minutes to put out, about 8.40am.