BY IAN CROUCH

A garbage truck has been destroyed and another damaged by fire at Cessnock early Thursday..

Four fire crews from Cessnock and Rutherford were called to the council depot on Old Maitland Road just after midnight.

It took them 3-and-a-half hours to extinguish the fire which guttered one truck and left another partially damaged.

Police say it appears an electrical fault sparked the blaze.