Police seek witnesses to 'suspicious' blaze

The blaze was reported to police at around 11.40pm on Friday and fire crews were called to the scene.

Six engines and 30 fire-fighters from across counties Antrim and Londonderry were needed to tackle the fire, which completely destroyed the building and tyre recycling equipment valued at 1m.

Crews were still at the scene on Saturday afternoon to deal with sporadic flare-ups.

Area commander Peter O’Reilly described the fire as “very complicated”.

“It was deep-seated when we got here,” he said.

“We had to send for a number of appliances from across Antrim and Derry.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to contain it.

“A lot of the rubber which is burning is confined within an area that we can’t get at.

“We have had to remove a 400 gallon diesel tank and a five tonne hopper, and we’re trying to have an organised collapse of the building to enable us to get water on the rest of the fire.”

Police are eager to speak to witnesses. They are especially keen to hear from anyone who noticed any suspicious vehicles or people in the area on Friday night. They can be contacted at Ballymena CID offices by calling 0845 600 8000.