The Echo reports tonight:
Firefighters are at the scene of a large tyre fire near the Fairglen Interchange on the A130.
A pile of tyres covering an area of 50 metres by 20 metres and stacked two metres high is alight, the incident commander reports.
Two crews from Rayleigh Weir and one crew from Leigh are using three ground monitors and one main jet to control the blaze.
The fire brigade was called to the site at 8.55pm.
Greater Anglia train services between London and Southend Victoria are being cancelled or delayed as a result of the fire.
A Greater Anglia spokesman said: “Due to a fire on property near the railway between Rayleigh and Wickford all lines are blocked.
“Train services between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 mins or revised.
“Owing to thick smoke blowing across the railway from a large fire off the railway between Rayleigh and Wickford the line is currently blocked for safety reasons.”
Passengers can use their tickets on c2c services and replacement buses are being arranged to operate between Wickford and Southend Victoria.
At 10:15 tonight there was a massive black cloud drifting northwards , passing above the A128 near the Carpenters Arms roundabout. Police had closed off the A1245 southwards.
UPDATE 7AM TUESDAY from BBC Travel:
We can both see it and smell it! Those tyres should have been cleared years ago, this was always going to,happen eventually
I was almost outside your home at 10 pm last night Christine,it looked very ominous. You could smell it more than a mile away.
It did look ominous, that smoke against the night sky. This morning of course we have traffic chaos on the A129, a nice big solid unmoving mess.
How much has this farce cost the economy of South Essex ? Is it no wonder that industry is retreating form our area . The Council and the environment agency are both culpable in my opinion . There have been several fines and imprisonment involving this site through illegal waste activities including these Tyres .Why were they not moved when they appeared? I believe an enquiry into lack of action needs to take place with responsibility placed on the guilty both owners and those charged with licensing and monitoring waste .Why should our emergency services have to risk their health fighting what is in effect a convenient way of not having to dispose of this hazardous waste in a responsible manner . The cost is incalculable with disruption on Rail Road ,pollution both from the fire and the exhaust fumes from stationary vehicles .Thats not counting costs incurred by emergency services and the railway .An avoidable incident will not call it an accident because it was not as tyres should not have been there in the first place of the authorities had any teeth.