SOUTH Wales Fire and Rescue Service is still battling a fire at a Valleys recycling factory eight months after it started, despite efforts to remove hundreds of tonnes of smouldering wood from the site.

The Argus reported last month how a blaze at Cross Keys Pallet Services on the North Blackvein Industrial Estate, near Wattsville, had been burning since October last year after starting accidentally near a wood-chipping machine.

Up to 300 tonnes of wood continued to burn, before the Environment Agency and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service took action by working site owners Dale and Gary Butcher to remove the burning wood and dispose of it safely.

But despite taking large amounts of wood away, the remaining material is still smouldering.

The Environment Agency yesterday said that although they were still working with the owners to remove as much waste as possible, the intensity of the “deep seated” fire continue to fluctuate as South Wales Fire and Rescue Service worked to contain it.

But for residents, the nightmare of smoke carrying into their homes for months on end is continuing.

Mum-of-two Phillipa Jones, 40, of Beechwood Avenue, said she had called the fire service just yesterday because of the plumes of smoke coming towards her house.

She said: “They took away at least 30 lorry loads of wood initially, but it’s still dreadful. It just makes you really angry that it’s been going on so long.”

Lionel Barnes, who lives just 300 yards from the factory on Islwyn Road, said: "When I go to open my door in the morning the first thing I smell is smoke. Everybody has become very despondent about it.”

Ynysddu councillor Jan Jones said an increased amount of smoke over the last few days was the result of diggers now reaching the bottom of the smouldering wood pile, allowing more oxygen in and the blaze to flare up.

She said she had asked the fire service to dampen down the blaze again to limit the smoke in what she hoped was the final stages of the clearance.

She added: “Hopefully by the end of the week it will be out.”

The owners of the site were not available for comment yesterday.