A MAJOR blaze at the waste storage centre in Marchwood could have been started deliberately, according to police.

They are refusing to rule out the possibility that the 18-hour fire could have been the work of an arsonist.

About 70 firefighters battled flames after it broke out among 200 tonnes of rubbish shortly after 9pm on Saturday.

A Hampshire police spokesman told the Daily Echo: "We are not ruling anything in or out at this stage. We are conducting an ongoing investigation to find out the cause. At this stage it's too early to say whether the cause was suspicious."

Officers are working in conjunction with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to search for clues about how the blaze started.

Residents were warned to stay indoors but contamination fears were later ruled out when site bosses said there was no toxic waste and the fire did not reach asbestos in the building.

Site bosses said the centre, which was closed yesterday, will reopen partly today to accept recyclable materials and clinical waste which was taken to an alternative station at Otterbourne yesterday.

Waste management company Onyx has run the holding depot for household waste at Marchwood since it stopped being used as a refuse incinerator in 1996.

The blaze broke out in a bunker used to store non-recyclable refuse that is collected from household waste and recycling centres, such as mattresses, sofas and old beds.

The site will not be able to accept this sort of waste until the area is declared safe. In the meantime waste will be taken to landfill sites at either Efford near Lymington or Blue Haze at Ringwood.

Project director for Onyx Hampshire John Collis said yesterday: "We have got a building that has been in a fire so a structural engineer has been called in to look at the safety of the building.

"We have got a concrete bunker that has got an awful lot of water and wet waste in it."

Onyx is still awaiting the results from Southern Water laboratories before it can discharge the water and transfer the wet waste to landfill.

Marchwood parish councillors are demanding answers from police about the lack of information during the blaze.

At a full council meeting, Councillor Carolyn Bianchi said: "I don't think it's appropriate that a policeman goes into a local shop wearing a mask and telling people not to panic. I haven't heard of one person that got a proper warning."

Chairman Darryl Hindle added: "There were a number of people out on the streets on Saturday evening and Sunday morning who knew nothing about this. The channels of information did not get to the right people."

In response, a Hampshire police spokesman said: "Officers knocked on doors until it was too late to continue at about 11pm. The local media were informed and we went to all the pubs in the area and asked people to stay in the pub after closing time.

"Officers took people home in a police car and on some occasions taxis were called.

"At about 11pm on Saturday there was a thought about making a loudspeaker announcement but it was decided it would disturb more people than would be necessary.

"In the morning the smoke plume was minimal and where there was any, officers stopped people and told them."

The spokesman stressed that roads were only blocked to give access to emergency service vehicles and not because of the smoke.