London fire latest: Huge blaze engulfs factory in Brent Cross

Witnesses describe 'huge mountain of fire' at paint factory in Staples Corner

A huge fire has engulfed a paint factory in Brent Cross in north London.

At least 15 fire engines and more than 90 firefighters were sent to battle the blaze in Staples Corner on Monday evening.

London Fire Brigade warned people to stay away from the area as giant plumes of smoke and fire were seen rising into the night sky.

The LFB said they received 45 separate 999 calls very quickly as the fire could be seen for miles around. The first call came at 9:20pm and fire crews from Hendon and surrounding areas came to put out the blaze.

The fire is still ongoing and its cause is unknown at this stage.

A spokesman for the LFB said: "This is a significant fire at a paint factory off the North Circular which can be seen across London. We'd ask people to avoid the area if possible and local residents to keep their doors and windows shut."

One witness, Achal Dhillon, said the fire was burning "quite violently" for more than 30 minutes.

The 33-year-old said that he saw fireballs being propelled into the air from the burning building up to a height of 100 metres.

Witnessing the fire spread through the building Mr Dhillon, after spotting what was initially a small blaze or a "little dot", said there was then a "loud pop".

"Then we saw a lot of flames suddenly rise up by themselves... then just this huge mountain of fire, almost pyramid shaped and spiralling as it was shooting fireballs into the air," he said.

"It is still going, there is a huge trail of thick black smoke."

Mr Dhillon said he was "amazed" at how quickly the fire service responded, adding that it was probably only a couple of minutes before they arrived and were tackling the flames.

Additional reporting by PA