A fierce blaze which burned for 25 days at a warehouse filled with illegally stored waste left the fire service with a bill for extra costs of more than £160,000, KentOnline can reveal.

Alarming figures show the scale of additional spending needed to tackle the fire, which broke out in an abandoned unit on the Westwood Industrial Estate near Margate on September 15.

Hundreds of firefighters took part in the operation, working round-the-clock for more than three weeks, with the bill for on-call staff £5,000 more than the month before.

But the most significant cost was in the appointment of a contractor and the hire of specialist equipment, as well as site security, with spending totalling £161,700.

It has led to calls for those responsible for storing as many as 16,000 bales of tightly packed waste in the warehouse to pick up the tab.

Devon-based D W Land is listed as the business rates payer for the site, and last May failed to comply with an Environment Agency (EA) notice to clear the rubbish from the building.

Salmestone ward councillor Peter Evans says it is “not acceptable” that the cost should fall to Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

Cllr Evans said: “It really should be covered by the insurance of those who own the site.

“It is not acceptable, but I am sure the fire brigade will be chasing those who own the site for the insurance cover.

“I think a lot of the problem is that the site was apparently sub-let and they were out of the country.

“What isn’t also taken into consideration is all of the inconvenience it caused.”

Cllr Evans says he was dismayed with how the fire was dealt with at the time.

“I don’t think it was handled the best it could have been,” he added. “The question I raised at the time was about the fumes being given out.

“Wherry Close, which is right next to the site, was in a cloud for more than a week.

“I really think those living there should have been evacuated.

“The acrid fumes which were coming from it can have bad long-term effects and can cause permanent damage.”

Huge piles of blackened waste remain uncleared at the site, but the EA says it is continuing to investigate who has responsibility for the clean-up.

Spokesman Peter O’Connor said: “The investigation is still ongoing but we are making good progress. As you can imagine, it is a large investigation but we cannot provide further details at this time.”

Following the fire – which was eventually extinguished on October 10 – a notice was pinned to a fence at the site, signed off by Thanet District Council’s head of asset management.

It ordered the owners of the building - a company based in the Virgin Islands called Conservation Property Holdings – to secure the site to stop unauthorised entry.

The firm has previously said it leased the building to an operator, unaware that the waste was being store inside.

Four children were arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire.

A 13-year-old girl has since been released without charge, but three 12-year-olds – a boy and two girls – remain under police investigation.