A PETITION with 500 signatures calling for further air testing following the fire at Lawrence Recycling has been presented to Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier.

Green Party parliamentary spokesman Stephen Brown and Phil Oliver, of Wyre Forest Friends of the Earth, presented the petition on behalf of residents concerned about chemicals such as dioxins and PCBs that may have been released by burning plastic.

The blaze, which began on Sunday, June 16 at the Stourport Road site, is still smouldering after authorities decided that the best course of action was a “controlled burn.”

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service is carrying out re-inspections every 12 hours at the site and in between visits, Lawrence Recycling employees are checking the temperature.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said employees had been instructed to call the fire service with any temperature changes.

Wyre Forest District Council announced last week that it had commissioned further air quality monitoring on the advice of Public Health England and petition organisers believe the testing to be a result of their campaign and lobbying.

A spokesman for the district council said: “We understand the concerns of residents and workers in local businesses who want assurance that the health advice they have already been given is still relevant.

“Public Health England has advised us on the predicted plume direction of the fire so we can ensure the monitors are in the plume as best as is practicable.”

The results of the latest air quality monitoring will be published on the district council’s website once they are available.

Mr Brown said: “I am very pleased that the authorities, thanks to the help of our MP Mark Garnier, have taken another look at it and decided to address people’s concerns and test more widely for dioxins.

“I also hope that, moving forward, the authorities will have learned lessons that will prevent a repeat of what has happened".

Mr Garnier accepted the petition last Sunday. He said: “I am also speaking with the district council and asking that they review the process by which information is passed out to the community with regards to events like this.”