Seven luxury cars have been destroyed in a huge fire which ripped through a Chadwell Heath car dealership.

Firefighters were called to a blaze at prestige car dealership Imperials, in High Road, at 10.10pm on Saturday, November 3.

At the height of the fire, 125 firefighters were at the scene battling to put out parked cars, a large pile car tyres and a nearby warehouse which were alight.

Explosions were narrowly avoided as firefighters were able to driver around 40 cars out of harms way and remove and number of pressurised gas cylinders from the scene.

There are no reports of any injuries and a number of nearby residents were also evacuated as a precaution.

Road closures were put in place on surrounding streets and the Brigade receive numerous calls from people alerting them to the fire, which was very visible.

Assistant commissioner Graham Ellis was at the scene.

He said: “In the early stages of this fire, quick thinking firefighters were able to make the area safe enough for around 40 cars at the dealership to be driven out of harms way.

“This stopped them being an explosion risk but it also saved many thousands pounds worth of vehicle damage.

“They also removed a number of cylinders which can explode when exposed to heat.

“The fire spread to a pile of tyres which created a lot of thick black smoke and we advised local residents to avoid the area and keep windows and doors shut.

“The combination of cars, cylinders, petrol, tyres and a lot of thick smoke made this a very difficult fire to tackle.

“Crews did a good job from preventing the fire from spreading beyond the car dealership.

“Seven vehicles, the car show room and warehouse were completely damaged by the fire.”

The Brigade brought the fire was under control at 7.20am this morning.

Firefighters remain at the scene still damping down hotspots and expect to be there until midday today.

The area is still quite smoky and so residents should keep windows and doors shut.

The cause of the fire is not known at this time.