A crew of refuse workers in north London narrowly escaped injury when combustible items that had been packed into a bin exploded after being loaded into a refuse truck.

Footage shows the moment of the explosion, caused after combustible items such as batteries, aerosol or gas canisters were wrongly placed into a residential bin.

They were then crushed by the lorry’s impactor, causing a bin and other debris to be fired out into the street. It follows another incident this year where a set of lithium batteries caught light and burned a hole in the side of a bin lorry.

Alan Schneiderman, a councillor in Barnet, said: “The video is incredibly shocking, and we’re relieved that the crew members escaped unharmed. I hope this helps people to understand how important it is to properly recycle items such as gas canisters and bottles, batteries and aerosols, as on another day we might not have been so lucky.”

The council said combustible waste should never be placed in waste bins and should be taken to a local recycling centre. In some cases they can be reused and refilled or returned to the seller for future use.

Battery fires in bin lorries and at waste sites in the UK have reached an all time high, the National Fire Chiefs Council said this year, adding that they were a disaster waiting to happen.

More than 1,200 such fires were recorded in the year to May, an an increase of 71% from 700 in 2022.

When crushed or damaged, batteries can be dangerous to the public, waste operators and firefighters as they cause fires that are especially challenging to tackle. They can create their own oxygen, which means they can keep reigniting, prolonging the fire.