Witnesses have spoken of their shock after a blaze ripped through a mailing warehouse which was so hot that it blew up vehicles in front of the building.

More than 100 firefighters from across the county fought the inferno which engulfed what is believed to have been the P2P Mailing warehouse in Festival Leisure retail park, in Basildon.

Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions as the fire raged throughout Saturday night and well into Sunday morning.

One man who witnessed the fire struggled to drive his car when he realised the road was obscured by thick black smoke.

Thurrock Gazette:

(Pic: Neil Fenwick)

Jamie Price said: “I had just left festival leisure and was heading home before it had taken full force.

“I was driving along the A127 where thick smoke was covering the road. I could barely see 10ft in front of me.

“There was a very weird smell in the air which I couldn’t really compare to anything.

“I then heard three very loud bangs and you could see the fire lighting up the sky.

“As I tried to make my way home, I saw tons of emergency service vehicles rushing to the scene.”

The smoke could be seen from miles away as it billowed into the sky and police were forced to close the A127.

Ryan Beeden, from Grays, heard about the fire and went to the scene to see what was going on.

Thurrock Gazette:

(Pic: ECFRS)

He said: “I was at home when I heard about it.

“I got there around 2am and the building was well alight. There were police cars and fire engines everywhere.

“You could see the smoke for a fair few miles in the distance and the fire lit up the sky. When I got to Festival Leisure and tried to get close, the police wouldn’t tell us anything about what was on fire as originally it was thought it was the Premier Inn.

“The flames engulfing the building were absolutely massive and there was lots of thick smoke.

“The building was completely alight and you could hear loud bangs from the building collapsing.

“I think a few vehicles in the front of the warehouse blew up which was what caused the loud explosions people could hear from miles away. It definitely didn’t look good.”

The warehouse has been completely destroyed and it is believed that no one was hurt during the fire.

Officer in charge, Neil Fenwick took to social media to thank his staff after the majority of the fire had been extinguished.

He said: “Great job by all ECFRS at Basildon fire.

“Thank you to all my staff and crews.”

The Echo attempted to contact P2P Mailing numerous times yesterday but no comment was received.