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Ten thousand tons of cardboard went up in flames at a Birmingham paper recycling plant on Wednesday night.

At one point, about 100 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which covered seven acres of bales at the Smurfit Kappa plant in Mount Street, Nechells.

The fire started just after 10pm and was expected to take a couple of days to burn out, a fire service spokesman said.

The A47 Heartlands Parkway between Saltley Road and Cuckoo Road was closed by police, who added that the road would probably remain closed until the afternoon.

Road around the area were also heavily congested as traffic was diverted.

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People living near the plant, close to the M6 motorway, were urged to stay indoors with windows and doors shut, the material burning is only thought to be cardboard and non-toxic.

The spokesman tweeted: "Fire at Smurfit Kappa is in a very large outdoor storage area. Approx 10,000 tons of recycled cardboard bales are ablaze.

"Fire is contained to storage area, high winds are hampering fire fighting, however crews and other agencies are working extremely hard to bring blaze under control."

West Midlands Police said there had been no reported injuries, but advised people to avoid the area if possible as emergency services will be at the scene throughout the day with a large area cordoned off around the fire.

A police helicopter was at the scene to check for signs of the fire spreading to other parts of the industrial estate the plant sits in.

More than 15 fire crews battled the flames overnight.

West Midlands Police said high winds were hampering efforts to extinguish the fire, which started just after 10pm last night.It said a police helicopter was being used to see if the fire had spread to other parts of the industrial estate the paper mill is on.

"Motorway officers are also monitoring fire due to proximity to M6. No traffic problems at this stage," the force tweeted.

Here's how the fire service and the public reported the incident on Twitter: