THICK plumes of black smoke could be seen for miles around as fire broke out at a former car parts factory in Basildon.

Four fire engines raced to the scene of the Visteon factory in Christopher Martin Road and tried to fight the flames from above as the blaze took hold at about 3.30pm yesterday.

The factory, which was owned by Ford until 2000 then taken over by Visteon, closed down in March last year leaving almost 200 people out of work.

The administrators now in charge of the site had begun demolishing the factory and the blaze started in the rubble.

Sub officer Craig McLellan, a senior firefighter at the scene, confirmed no one had been injured in the fire.

He said: “They are demolishing the site and it looks like some of the scrap caught alight. We decided to use the water tower so firefighters could spray water on to the flames from safety above, rather then sending them into it on the ground.”

A line of lorries, which had been sent to the site to take away the rubble from the demolished factory, were left parked alongside the factory for the rest of the afternoon.

One of their drivers said: “We won’t be able to take anything away today.”

Former factory worker Jay Mistry, 57, of Elm View Road, Benfleet, said the fire was a sad final chapter in the story of the factory, which was once one of the town’s biggest employers.

He said: “I had heard from our union they were going to knock it down this week, but I’m surprised to hear it caught fire.

“They used to store a lot of oil on the site, in drums, so maybe it was that which caught alight. I’m sad it’s ending this way.”

The former factory workers are campaigning to force Ford, which set up Visteon in the 1990s then let the firm take over its British car parts factories, to take back responsibility for their pensions which were devalued after Visteon UK went into administration.

Jonna Christensen, spokes- man for Visteon Engineering Services – another branch of the firm which is still operating, said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on the fire because the factory has been in the hands of the administrators for over a year now and is their responsibility.”