SECRET TELE EXCLUSIVE EVACUATION PLAN TO DEAL WITH ‘TICKING TIMEBOMB’

● 18,000 tyres pose ‘huge health hazard’

EMERGENCY services have drawn up secret evacuation plans for scores of homes around a ticking ‘timebomb’ illegal dump stuffed with almost 20,000 tyres.

Authorities fear a major fire at derelict Devol Farm in upper Port Glasgow, where around 18,000 tyres have been fly-tipped by criminal gangs.

But bosses from the fire service, police, council and environment agency are refusing to release details about planned ‘exclusion zones’ around the huge environmental hazard.

It comes as Port councillor Drew McKenzie describes the tyres as ‘a dangerous timebomb’ while a police chief brands the site a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.

EMERGENCY services have drawn up secret evacuation plans for homes around the site of a ticking ‘timebomb’ illegal dump stuffed with almost 20,000 tyres.

Bosses from the fire service, police, council and environment agency are refusing to release details about the measures put in place over the huge environmental hazard at derelict Devol Farm in upper Port Glasgow, where there have already been a number of nearmisses.

Authorities fear a major incident fire at the farm, where it’s estimated over 15,000 tyres have been fly-tipped by criminal gangs.

The Tele reported earlier this year how one barn overflowing with them is within just a few metres of houses on the estate.

Now it’s emerged documents have been prepared outlining ‘exclusion zones’ that could be implemented in a fire, and the threat posed to residents by toxins which would be released into the air.

Their existence was confirmed at a meeting of a council committee.

But Inverclyde Council, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) are keeping them hidden from the public.

SEPA are spearheading an effort to remove the tyres but elected members are growing impatient at their efforts.

Port councillor Drew McKenzie, below, highlighted the problem at the Police & Fire Scrutiny Committee along with fellow Port councillor David Wilson, the convenor.

Councillor McKenzie said: “We have a farm which is full of tyres and the ideal situation is to get rid of these tyres.

“They are a danger, a timebomb.

“There have been various attempts at fire-raising that have been extinguished in time, but there is a stock of 18,000 tyres stored in these premises and SEPA are not moving in the fastest direction that it could.

“Council officers seem to be very frustrated at the lack of action here.

“As local councillors we have a duty to local constituents to make sure this is dealt with as quickly as possible.”

The Telegraph made a request under Freedom of Information laws for the authorities involved to release a copy of their ‘MultiAgency Incident Response Guide’ (MAIRG), which details the measures that could be implemented if the tyres were to go up in flames.

We also asked for the minutes of meetings where the proposals were discussed.

All four organisations refused to release the documents, with Inverclyde Council and Police Scotland providing a handful of details.

SEPA did not respond to the Telegraph’s request within the 20-day statutory deadline and instead offered an apology, while the Scottish Fire Service ignored the request and didn’t respond at all.

The council says the incident plan contained indicative exclusion zones and that in the event of a fire any decisions on exclusions would be made by the SFRS.

The local authority added that efforts to remove the tyres were in the hands of SEPA, who have a number of enforcement powers.

Speaking at the scrutiny panel meeting, Police Scotland area commander Paul Cameron said: “I became aware of this because there was a fire at that locus [started] by young people.

“When I looked at it closer I became really concerned and I am still very concerned about that location for a fire. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen in my eyes.” The chief inspector said ownership of the site was in doubt and raised concerns about the structural integrity of the buildings.

He added: “The worry is parts of that building are being held up by the tyres

“If they get set on fire that takes away the construction of the building and it’s going to fall, if it falls on somebody that’s going to be horrendous.

“We are sitting here waiting for that to go on fire.”

Murdo Henderson, who represented the fire service, told the committee: “The report that’s been circulated with the potential exclusion zones if there was a fire there is all very robust.

“However in the past when they [other sites containing a large amount of tyres] have been cleared it has been the local authority that has led on this.

“It’s been linked into... being very near to an industrial area, a railway line, or in one of the most recent examples next to a hospital.

“The imperative has been a lot higher there, with regards to having to remove that potential hazard.

“We have the same thing here to be fair because it’s right next to a housing development. I share the frustrations with the clear-up of it.

“There’s no legislation we can apply to assist with that as a fire service other than to highlight the dangers to emergency responders and the public.”

The Telegraph has lodged appeals with three of the four agencies involved in the plans and continues to press the SFRS for a response.