PLUMES of smoke could be seen across the sky in south Essex after a huge blaze broke out in an industrial building on Monday afternoon.

Eight fire engines rushed to Fanton Hall Farm, Wickford, after a storage unit, containing imported material and goods from China, went up in flames.

Horses in nearby stables and fields were moved following concerns for their safety.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing an explosion before the 25m by 30m concrete building, which is clad in metal, set alight.

By 10pm, the roof of the building had collapsed entirely, as crews continued to tackle the blaze.

Tracey Woods, 44, who owns a fancy dress business based on the farm, said: "The whole building went up so quickly. There were huge flames coming out of the roof.

"Lucky it didn't take long for the fire service to arrive."

Crews from Basildon, Rayleigh Weir, Wickford, Billericay, and Canvey were called shortly before 4pm.

Rush hour commuters could see billowing smoke from the A127 and smell burning.

Julie Barber, 38, who has rented two stables at the site for the past eight years, initially thought tyres at Michelins Farm, near Rayleigh, had gone up in flames again.

She said: "I saw the smoke as I was driving along the A127 and panicked as soon as I realised it was coming from Fanton Hall. When I got there my horses were gone as they had been moved already, but luckily they are both fine..

"It's a well maintained farm, and everything is looked after really well."

Fellow horse owner Carole Michael, 44, rushed to the scene after seeing people discuss the fire on Facebook.

Echo:

The scene of the fire (Picture: Jo Summers)

Mel Slepcevic, who lives in the Tarpots area of Benfleet, saw the smoke from his home.

He said: "There are quite a lot of flames as well and it looks like a major fire."

Jo Summers, of Larkswood Walk, Wickford, was travelling near to the farm just moments after the blaze broke out.

She said: "My dad is a former fireman, and when we saw the smoke he said we should see if we can help.

"The smell of burning was very strong, and there were lots of people nearby. We were worried because we heard horses and thought one of the stables was alight.

"Fortunately it's one of the industrial units, and nobody seems to have been hurt."

The East of England Ambulance Service confirmed it was not called.

On arrival, firefighters reported the building was 100 per cent alight.

UPDATE: Tuesday October, 6.

Police and fire have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

Firefighters are continuing to monitor the fire which is still burning in a controlled way. Crews continue to use main line jets to protect the surrounding risks. A three pump relief took over at 7am.