Residents awoke to fire engines and flames last night as storage units burned behind a Bromley street.

Charlie Turner, who lives in Palace View, described how he was woken up to a “loud bang” and saw firefighters running up the road.

The 20-year-old student said he saw smoke billowing from behind houses opposite and two fire engines on the scene.

He told News Shopper: “I was woken up by a loud bang and I looked out the window – there were a lot of people outside.

“There were fire engines and firefighters going down the alleyways.

“I saw lots of smoke and could see ash coming out. I could tell there was a big fire.”

Many took to Twitter in the midst of the fire as residents wondered what was going on. Erica Nelson noted how a shed roof had “bent in half” and told other users on the social networking site that "four sheds plus (a) caravan" were alight.

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Palace View runs parallel to a train track and lies close to Bromley South station and Network Rail sent a response manager to the incident, with two platforms closing for a time.

A spokesman said: “We were advised by staff at Bromley South that there was a garden fire getting out of hand close to one of the lines. We sent a mobile operations manager.

"At 10.30pm he said trains should not use platforms three and four as trees were alight. It was under control and the platforms reopened at 11pm. No trains were delayed.”

A London Fire Brigade spokesman reported: “We were called at 10.24pm to a fire on Palace View.

“Four storage units were affected and badly damaged. We sent two engines from Bromley and it was under control by 11.19pm.”