Cause of Rochford car auction site fire remains unknown

About 60 firefighters from 12 different stations across the region attended the scene

A fire service that has been investigating a blaze involving 700 cars at an auctioneers said the cause of it was still "unknown".

Crews from 12 different stations were called to the fire on Purdeys Way, Rochford, Essex, last week.

The site, owned by car auction business Copart UK, had about 2,000 cars on site, stacked in rows of three storeys.

Its chief executive said it was "immensely grateful to the Essex fire crews".

The fire service attended the scene at about 21:00 BST on Friday and said it had fully cooled by 11:00 the next day.

An investigation by the fire service revealed the cause of the blaze was still "unknown"

Justin Benson-Ryal, the officer in charge of the incident, said the fire was "jumping" from row to row.

He said: "We got ahead of the fire and created what we call a 'fire break'. This helped us extinguish the fire much quicker and stopped the fire spreading any further."

Copart chief executive for the UK and Ireland, Jane Pocock, said: "Storing heavily damaged vehicles carries risk and a clean-up operation will commence as soon as possible.

"We are, of course, incredibly grateful that no loss of life or injuries occurred and immensely grateful to the Essex fire crews and our own team who contained the fire quickly and prevented any spreading."