MORE than 30 firefighters were forced to stand by and watch a raging fire at a recycling centre after fears emerged that gas cylinders could explode.

Residents were told to stay inside and warned that they could be evacuated after the potentially lethal gas cylinders were discovered to be alight at the Waldo Road Re-use and Recycling Centre in Bromley.

The safety concerns also forced the closure of the train track running alongside the rubbish dump, causing disruption to thousands of passengers.

Many commuters were forced to use buses between Kent and London while about 20,000 Eurostar passengers were diverted onto domestic services between Ashford and Waterloo or offered alternative dates to travel.

Six fire engines were called to the blaze at around 10am on Sunday. Neighbours described dramatic scenes with flames rising several metres high and black billowing smoke mushrooming into the sky.

Richard Main, is a resident in Godwin Road, which backs on to the recycling centre. He said: "There were massive billows of black smoke and huge flames coming from the pile of rubbish.

"The fire brigade found some gas canisters so they had to evacuate the area and they left two of there fire engines inside. They have to just watch it burn because they can’t go in and fight the fire."

Another resident added: "The flames were huge. You could feel the heat off the fire just standing nearby. We had to shut all of our windows because of the smell of the thick smoke."

London Fire Brigade now report that the fire is under control but the site will be monitored.

A spokesman said: "Some types of gas cylinder can explode when exposed to heat and as a result a cordon has been set up around the affected area. This may cause disruption to nearby road and rail services for around 24 hours until the cylinders are safe to be removed."

By Sunday evening, two of the four tracks that run alongside the depot had been re-opened. Eight trains were cancelled during the Monday morning rush hour.

A spokesman for South Eastern trains said: "We tried to run the best service we could. Because of engineering works on various lines, our diversion routes were severely limited and we had to run replacement bus services."