More than 30 firefighters battled a huge blaze that began in the fuel store just before 5am on Wednesday and caused a large conveyer belt ferrying waste to the incinerator to collapse.

Operators Dundee Energy Recycling Ltd said the Forties Road site will be out of action for several weeks.

DERL managing director Alan Jones said: ''We cannot praise Tayside Fire and Rescue enough for the professional and effective way they have worked in conjunction with our own teams to bring this incident swiftly under control.

''Having launched an investigation, our priority now is to safely remove the 350 tonnes of waste from the fuel store where the fire started. This will allow us to assess the full extent of the damage then begin repairs as quickly as possible.''

Throughout the day, the plant's fire deluge systems continued to dowse down the waste-derived fuel store to allow waste to be safely removed....