Firefighters had to be called after a person fell into the pit at a rubbish transfer station in Christchurch.

A crew from the Anzac fire station was dispatched to Bromley just after 2pm on Sunday.

Fire and Emergency NZ said a person had fallen into the trash area at the transfer station, but they were not badly injured.

Police were initially sent to the incident, but were stood down.

It comes just days after Christchurch City Council issued a warning about the number of people climbing into refuse pits and children getting out of vehicles at rubbish dumps.

The city council’s resource recovery team and site operator, EcoCentral, last month urged residents to keep their family and staff safe when using the city’s three EcoDrop transfer stations.

There had been 116 reports of children out of vehicles and 28 reports of people seen in the pit over the last year.

“This is extremely dangerous as there is heavy machinery operating in the pit at all times and hazardous debris in the area,” resource recovery manager Dr Alec McNeil said previously.

McNeil said children and pets must remain inside vehicles at all times. The refuse pit should not be entered under any circumstances.

“If you accidentally drop something into the pit, signal the loader operator from a safe distance or locate a staff member and the team will assist.”

-With RNZ

 

 

Â