A huge fire at a disused gas works site which caused an area of Bromley to go on lockdown was accidental.

The cause of the fire on Homesdale Road on Wednesday (October 24) was under investigation after a decommissioned gas holder was destroyed.

Around 40 firefighters tackled the blaze which took three hours to finally get under control by 2.49pm.

“I could see the black bellowing smoke coming over the sky,” Sharon Marks, whose husband works in the area, told News Shopper.

“The flames were going right up to where the Tesco is.

“Everybody was standing around taking pictures. There was a lot of smoke. It seemed to be spreading quite quickly.

“When I was driving back through Locksbottom I could still smell the burning plastic.”

No injuries were reported and businesses nearby closed and a local school was evacuated during the fire.

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: “The cause of the fire is accidental and believed to be due to hot gas works being carried out.”