'Explosions' were heard after part of a Wickford farm caught fire last night, triggering a huge response from the emergency services. 

The blaze, which began at areound 9.24pm last night, engulfed several vehicles and rural outbuildings as firefighters battled to contain the flames. 

Witnesses close to the incident in Lynfords Drive, Wickford, reported hearing a series of loud explosions and shared photos and videos of the incident on social media. 

Four fire crews were called to tackle the blaze, one from Wickford, one from Rayleigh, and two from Basildon. Paramedics also attended the scene. 

Essex Fire said: "Firefighters were called to a fire involving several vehicles on farmland this evening.

"On arrival, the officer in charge immediately requested further support due to the size of the fire and reported that a number of outbuildings were also involved.

"Firefighters liaised with the Electricity Board to isolate supply to the overhead power cables at the scene, to ensure the area was safe.

"The incident has now been divided into sectors to allow firefighters to surround the fire as efficiently as possible.

"Due to the large amount of smoke being created by the fire, firefighters are also working alongside the police to keep the road closed to traffic."

The fire completely destroyed an areameasuring 20 metres by 30 metres. 

At 11.45pm, Essex fire service reported that 'good progress' towards tackling the fire had been made by using a sectorised approach, in which firefighters target certain areas to extinguish, while containing others.

Updates to follow.