Two businesses have been hit by a dramatic blaze which broke out on an industrial estate near Ashford.

Moonlight Limos, which provides party buses and transport to events, and MasterTech Automotive suffered extensive damage in Woodchurch yesterday.

The flames engulf trees next to parked vehicles

The fire on the Counter Buildings estate off Brook Street is believed to have been caused when power cables touched and ignited in trees.

Alan Stoolworthy, who has run Moonlight Limos for almost two decades, says his only party bus went up in flames.

The vehicle was about six feet away from the trees which were on fire, leading it to also get caught up in the blaze.

"My party bus went up in flames; I'm gutted," he said. "That's my livelihood – it's just me and the bus."

Mr Stoolworthy wasn't at the scene when the fire broke out, but he received a call from a business on the estate saying he needed to move his bus as soon as possible.

"I left immediately, I was there within four minutes and when I got there, there was 20ft flames coming out of the roof of the bus.

"The people next door in the garage (MasterTech) lost five cars.

"The smoke was so acrid because there was tyres going up, I thought I'm not hanging around here - there's nothing I can do."

Mr Stoolworthy currently has another party bus being manufactured but it is not due to arrive until October – putting him out of business for the busiest period of the year.

"What's upsetting me more than anything is that it's the busiest time of the year and I've had to ring everybody and cancel," he said.

"It's just gut-wrenching. This has done me in."

The 58-year-old says he had just downsized to one party bus because he is retiring soon so he is now left with nothing.

But he also has a gaming van which will provide him with a bit of income in the meantime.

"I'm going to take it a week at a time, I have a gaming van too called 'Game On," he said.

"I usually have a driver for but I'll be taking it over."

Mr Stoolworthy has contacted insurance companies, but he said because it is specialised party bus, it can't just be replaced.

"To replace that of the same specification, you're going to be looking at, at least £60,000," he said.

"It's a lot of money."

MasterTech Automotive staff cleared the area of debris this morning after five of their customers' cars were hit.

David Henley, who owns furniture company Elizabeth Henley which has a workshop in Counter Buildings opposite where the fire broke out, says the large trees which were caught up in the blaze should have been cut down.

"In the intense heat the power cables stretched and touched to create a flame," he said.

"Because the power cables were in the tree, within half an hour there was carnage.

"Within 20 minutes it destroyed five or six cars. It was very quick."

The 52-year-old added that they were trying to push cars out of the way so they didn't get caught up in the fire.

"It could have been a lot worse," he added.

"We were lucky because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction to the field.

"If it had happened at 11pm there would have been a lot more damage."

The site had power again this morning and Mr Henley said businesses are slowly getting back on track.

No one was hurt in the blaze, which saw four fire engines called to the scene.