Fire crews have brought a major blaze at a recycling works off Hedon Road under control this afternoon.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are still tackling the fire at a plastics recycling plant at the end of Century Road in New Fields Industrial Estate in east Hull.
Fire officers say the blaze is now under control and there is no risk to the public although they expect to still be at the plant until the early hours of the morning.
Residents were urged to keep their doors and windows closed as thick, black smoke filled the skies around Taylor's Environmental and Recycling Services Ltd.
Hedon Road was also closed to traffic in both directions although the westbound carriageway has just been re-opened. Humberside Police is warning motorists they can't say how long the eastbound carriageway will remain closed.
Six fire engines, an aerial appliance and a water support unit attempted to bring the blaze under control. Fire chiefs have now reduced the number of pumps from six to four and are using the aerial appliance to drop water onto the fire to douse it down.
No-one is believed to have been inside the building when the fire broke out.
The fire service received the first 999 call at 12.48pm while fire-fighters were engaged in a five-hour walk-out as part of their pensions dispute with the Government.
One senior fire officer at the scene said: "It is a very large building with huge smoke plumes coming out and we're having an issue with overhead power lines.
"Our message to residents at the moment is to keep their windows and doors closed."
Witnesses across the city described seeing smoke billowing from the site.
Angela Clark said: "There are loads of people out on the streets in west Hull. We can see black smoke.
"There is a huge black cloud in the sky. People are standing on the flyover and everyone is talking about it."
The recycling plant is close to Yorkshire Water's water treatment plant, which has not been affected by the blaze.
A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said: "The fire is at the recycling centre very close to our site.
"At the moment, we are assisting the fire service by providing them with water. It is not affecting the treatment works at all."
Another fire-fighter at the scene said: "The fire is producing a lot of black smoke because of what is burning so it probably looks worse than it is."
A spokeswoman for Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said: "We anticipate we will be on the scene for some time. At this stage, we have no idea about the cause of the blaze. That is something we will start investigating once the fire is out.
"As the strike action has now finished, we are in the process of changing over the crews on the site. They will remain there for the next few hours."
She said the thick black smoke, which had caused widespread concern, was caused by tightly packed paper
at the recycling plant.
She confirmed no-one had been injured in the blaze as the plant did not operate on a Sunday.
UPDATED: 5.50PM
