FIRE crews tackled a major blaze on an Essex business park in the early hours of this morning.

Thirty fire fighters were drafted in to fight the flames, which broke out in a business unit in Wivenhoe near Colchester shortly before 2am.

The blaze, which involved liquid petroleum gas cylinders, was not under control until 5am.

Fire chiefs were forced to stop trains on the Clacton to Liverpool Street line as the incident was just three metres from the tracks. But by 7am trains were allowed through again,

A joint police and fire investigation has got underway to work out how the blaze started.

John Sherrington, assistant divisional officer at Essex Fire Service, said: “The fire involves a number of small storage units within an adapted storage complex.

“Until we have carried out our fire investigation, it’s impossible to tell where or how the incident started but crews did an excellent job in difficult conditions to minimise spread and prevent damage to many other units nearby.

“Crews were initially hampered by difficult access to the site because of parked cars preventing early appliances from getting onto the scene but they overcame all obstacles to reach the fire and get to work.

“The three units affected appear to be a garage, an equipment store and some kind of upholstery and fancy dress store.

“Now that the fire is under control, relief crews will be turning over and damping down to ensure there are no hots spots and our investigation into the cause will begin.”