A fire broke out at a Benfleet scrapyard in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters were called to the scene in Armstrong Road, Manor Trading Estate, at around three o'clock this morning.

Two crews, one from Basildon and one from Rayleigh attended to find a large pile of scrap, around eight tonnes, was alight.

The fire was extinguished by 4.40am. The cause of the blaze was recorded as unknown.

Heather Spicer, 39, of Catherine Road,Benfleet, woke up to the smell of burning shortly before five o'clock.

She said: "I live halfway up Bread and Cheese Hill and awoke to the smell of burning plastic and saw smoke out of my bedroom window.

"I didn't know where it was coming from so I telephoned the fire brigade and was told by the operator that they had been called to a fire on the trading estate, and I had to close the windows because of the smell."