Big blaze in Southam took hours to put out

At the height of the blaze 10 fire engines from across Warwickshire were at the scene and a hydraulic platform was used to rain water down on the blaze.

The fire at Repairs Tech in Westfield Road could be seen for miles and there were reports of thick, acrid smoke over the surrounding area and nearby Harbury.

The business repairs equipment, computers, games consoles and televisions.

Two fire engines were initially sent to the scene and found the blaze was on the first floor of the unit but because of the intensity more crews were dispatched to tackle it, and a command and control vehicle.

A Warwickshire Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said the call to the control room came in just before 7pm on Tuesday.

She added: “On arrival crews found the first floor of the building well alight. The fire spread rapidly due to the high volume of plastics and electrical goods stored in the building.

“Crews spent the night containing it to just the one unit to ensure the surrounding businesses were not affected.

“The cause of the fire is not yet known, but it is not thought to be malicious.”

Nick Smith, who lives in Hurst Road, Southam, said: “We could see it in the distance. You could see a lot of smoke but the wind was shoving it over to Harbury. In Harbury they were saying there was a smell of burnt plastic. The fire crews did a really good job in getting it under control.”