FIREBALL

Flames were soaring more than 50ft and thick black smoke was billowing from the warehouse on an industrial estate near Empress Road, Bevois Valley.

Shortly before 12 noon a neighbouring warehouse also caught fire.

More than 35 firefighters from St Mary's, Hightown and Redbridge fire stations were called to the scene shortly after 10.40am.

Scores of workers from businesses on the Empress Park Industrial Estate were evacuated as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control.

Police cordoned off busy Empress Road at both ends as trees caught fire at the side of a railway line that runs alongside the industrial unit. An ambulance was also at the scene on standby

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Mike Gates said: "A substantial stack of wooden pallets have caught fire. We do not know at this stage what started the fire, we are dealing with tackling the fire and will think about that later."

Support crews from Redbridge, St Mary's and Eastleigh were also at the scene and firefighters were using an aerial ladder platform and specialist breathing equipment to tackle the blaze.

One onlooker said: "First I saw a little bit of smoke then a big lick of flames built up and the smoke billowed up.

"Then the flames got higher than the trees."

A gusty north-east wind caused smoke to fan out across Bevois Valley as hundreds of pallets at the yard burned.

Nearby workers were evacuated from neighbouring offices and warehouses of Carlsberg-Tetley, Exel Logistics and Empress Car and Commercial Services.

All the companies are based on an industrial unit.

At Ridon Joinery, opposite the warehouse, workers feared for their offices.

Kerry Prewitt, who works at the company, said: "We think they were just burning some pallets and it just got out of hand. We saw smoke and heard the fire engines. We were panicking a bit because of the flames. They were coming up over the building, licking over the top of the warehouse."