A fire which gutted a car salvage yard was caused by an employee working on a petrol tank, it has emerged.

The blaze at the Canvey firm on the Charfleets Industrial Estate sparked a major investigation by police and firefighters on Wednesday.

Officers probing the cause of the fire at Star Salvage in Charfleets Road were suspicious after flames swept through a wood yard across the road just hours later.

Fire crews were yesterday (Thursday) still investigating the cause of the blaze at FW Aylott which broke out on Wednesday morning.

Owner of Star Salvage Tommy Flattery admitted one of his employees had started the blaze on Tuesday evening.

He said: "It was just one of those things. No one is to blame and the guy is still working for me and will be doing so for a long time."

Around ten cars were in the salvage firm's workshopwhen the blaze completely destroyed the building.

Flames spread to Auto Spares next door, burning 30 cars and causing £4,000 worth of damage.

Owner Martin Richardson was in Lakeside when the fire started but one of his employees saw the smoke and alerted him to the incident.

Detective Constable Sue Clark of Canvey police said: "We can confirm that one of the fires was accidental. I am still waiting for a report on the second fire on Charfleets from fire officers."

Managing director at FW Aylott Frank Aylott said the devastation to his wood yard could cost more than £100,000.

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