The fire, in the stockyard at Smurfit Kappa's SSK site in Nechells, to the north-east of Birmingham, broke out at around 10pm last night.

It was a severe blaze, with 15 fire engines and some 100 firefighters from West Midlands Fire Service required to tackle it.

There were also concerns about smoke drifting across the nearby M6 motorway. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

The site is one of Smurfit Kappa's two recycled packaging mills in the UK, and produces testliner and recycled fluting. It processes more than 200,000 tonnes of recovered fibre a year, according to the company.

The fire is understood to have involved 10,000 tonnes of cardboard for recycling stored in the yard. Local reports said the main building was unaffected, but this is yet to be confirmed by Smurfit Kappa.

There has been a paper mill on the site for 150 years, and the mill has been manufacturing recycled grades since 1911. The name of the mill, which currently employs 110 staff, is based on the surnames of the founders: Smith, Stone and Knight.

Smurfit Kappa issued a brief statement this morning. The company said: "At approximately 10pm last night a fire started in the paper yard and rapidly spread to the remaining raw material stock. Emergency services were called and are co-ordinating a combined operation to bring the situation under control. No one has been injured and we are co-operating fully with the emergency services on site."

There is no further information yet on the likely impact on production at the facility

Jeff Cotterill, managing director at nearby commercial printer Cotterill Cook, described the blaze as "massive", with high winds fanning the flames.

"Some of the units here have been evacuated but we were in fairly early this morning and it's business as usual. They're damping the fire down now," he said.