Residents feared for their lives after the petrol station opposite their homes caught fire.
Families were woken at around 4.30 am on Sunday by fire crews after the shop at the BP garage on Coggeshall Road, Bradwell caught light.
They were told by officers they may have to evacuate their homes if the fire spread to the forecourt.
It took fire crews, wearing breathing apparatus, and using two jet hoses and reels around two and a half hours to extinguish the blaze.
Police were also called to the site because smoke was billowing out on to the A120.
Resident Karen Frid, 44, said: “It was frightening, we knew they had just had a delivery and there was a lot of fuel onsite.
For full story see this week's Times
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