A Welwyn Garden City man has spoken of the dramatic moment a fire erupted across the road from him in a Jaguar dealership

The blaze ripped through a rear car workshop in Great North Road’s Grange garage on Sunday.

A member of the public called the fire service, told the WHT: “I looked out the window to see the garage encased in a massive amount of thick black and grey smoke.

“I could hear alarms going off. Every now and again there was a pop as something small exploded sending some debris high into the air.”

A fire spokesman said WGC and Hatfield fire crews were among several called at 5pm to combat the blaze.

“They bashed in the back door and started tackling the fire,” James added. “At this point the smoke was starting to leak out of the roof and any place it could.

“The fire looked like it started in the workshop out back.”

The 21-year-old added: “The smell was reminiscent of bonfire night, it was just burning and smoke.

“The police came to the house and asked a few questions.

“It was unnerving considering the contents of the building as they’d have a lot of flammable materials in there, and it being so close to home.”

A Grange spokesman said: “The main thing is no one was hurt and at this point investigations are still ongoing.

“None of the cars have been burnt in the fire. However, it is too early to say if there is any smoke related damage.”

He also said it was premature to estimate the damage cost.