A huge industrial unit fire in Grays yesterday started accidentally in a pile of scrap electrical items, the fire service has confirmed. 

Firefighters were on the scene, in Rectory Road, until just before midnight last night as they spent roughly 10 hours fighting the blaze. 

999 control operators received more than 75 calls reporting the fire. 

The fire investigation has been carried out and it has been found that the fire started accidentally in a pile of scrap electrical items.

Firefighters finally left the scene at 11.45pm, after initially tackling the fire at 2.45pm. 

Around 50 residents living very close to the estate were advised to temporarily leave their homes due to the amount of smoke.

The unit is used by a scrap yard and contains a number of scrap cars, white goods and PVC windows.