A large fire has ripped through a major packaging plant owned by Smurfit Kappa in Birmingham, destroying a large amount of paper and cardboard bales.

West Midlands Fire Service said more than 30 fire appliances were in use at the height of the blaze, which was declared a major incident on Sunday night.

It said that more than 20 – involving 110 firefighters – remained on site overnight though numbers were reduced by morning as damping down began to contain pockets of fire.

There were no reports of any casualties or a possible cause.

Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa is listed in London and Europe’s largest paper packaging producer.

The Birmingham plant is one of two paper mills it operates in the UK.

It produces 500-700 tonnes of packaging paper every day, which is later converted into cardboard boxes.

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Shares in the company – down 28% in the year to date ahead of Monday’s open – fell a further 2% in early deals.

Packaging companies have had to meet a surge in demand for their products over the last two years and Smurfit said earlier this year that its product range remained effectively sold out in almost all of the 36 countries it operates in.

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