A 200m exclusion zone was still in place today at the scene of a major fire and gas explosion on an industrial estate.

Around 30 businesses on the Belvedere Employment Area industrial estate were evacuated on Tuesday after flames caused acetylene cylinders to overheat and explode.

Thick black smoke could be seen for miles around following the blasts which happened in Belvedere's Mulberry Way.

One witness described the scene as “like a war zone”. The London Ambulance service said nobody was injured.

Some 40 firefighters manning 10 engines and a fire boat tackled the blaze at its height. The area was sealed off and people in cars and buses were prevented from getting to work in case of further explosions.

The fire is understood to have started on the site of a company called Wicked Waste shortly before 9am. A breeze spread the flames from some pallets close to the river to a factory complex called River View.