Huge blaze at recycling centre with 15 vehicles alight as witness hears 'gas bottles exploding'

Shocking footage shows a huge blaze as it broke out at a recycling centre, which was so big that residents reported seeing the smoke in a neighbouring town. Witnesses described hearing ‘loud bands and explosions’, before fire and rescue workers discovered 15 vehicles alight, along with warehouses that were also on fire.

A total of 12 fire crews were sent to tackle the industrial blaze, although this was since scaled down to five. Residents of Basildon, Essex are being urged to keep their doors and windows shut as firefighters expect to be on scene all weekend.

Lacey Alby, who lives on the caravan site next to Burnt Mills Industrial Estate where the blaze broke out, said "gas bottles exploding" sounded like "bombs were going off." She said: "We can't get home insurance so if this had gone bad for us, we would have been burnt to the ground and had nothing left. There were gas bottles exploding like bombs were going off.”

Essex Fire and Rescue were first called to Hovefields Avenue in Basildon, Essex at 1.15am today (Sep 14). Smoke could be seen billowing across the A127 - while some said they could see it from neighbouring Kent.

Group Manager Steve Wintrip said: "Site staff are using a digger to move and break up the recycling so our crews can extinguish it. This will be a long process and we expect to be on site for at least another 48 hours. It will also continue to create a lot of smoke, so we would urge residents in Basildon and Wickford to keep doors and windows closed."