THOUSANDS of pounds of machinery has been destroyed in a fire at a York business.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to Martins Skip Hire in Osbaldwick at about 6.20pm yesterday, where a section of the recycling yard was ablaze.

Smoke was visible in much of the east of the city and a spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze had started at Martins Skip Hire.

Millie Southall sent us this picture:

York Press: Fire broke out in Osbaldwick, Martins of York Skip

Three fire crews, from York, Huntington and Acomb, were sent to the scene, which caused high flames and smoke which could be seen across the city.

A spokesman for the fire service said a team of workers from the site assisted fire crews by using an excavator to turn over the hotspots in the burning waste while crews damped it down.

Myra Martin, whose husband Tony founded the company in 1996, said she believed the fire was an arson attack, and police had been called to the site nine times in the last two weeks.

She said: "People have been coming in our yard, sitting on the wall and throwing bricks at our workers.

"It's absolutely thousands of pounds worth of machinery that's gone up, including a trammel and a picking station used to sort out the waste. We're just trying to make a living and this is what happens."

The fire service spokesman said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined, but crews would revisit the site today.

This video was tweeted by @GWinpey:

Pictures have also been posted by local residents:

York Press: Fire in york

York Press:

The Fire Service spokesman said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined.