Firefighters rushed to a blaze at a warehouse in Braintree in the early hours of this morning.

Four fire crews were called to the scene in Blackwell Drive at around 1am and found the building to be heavily smoke-logged when they arrived.

The fire had begun inside a van which was inside the industrial unit but crews managed to put it out by 3.20am.

Steve Wintrip, watch manager, said: "Our crews worked quickly when faced with a large amount of smoke and a developing fire.

"They used thermal imaging cameras to identify the locate the source of the smoke.

"They were then able to target their firefighting efforts to a deep-seated fire which had started in a van, and stop it spreading to adjoining compartments within the building.

"The fire had been burning for some time before we had been alerted to it, but as all internal doors within the building had been closed the fire had been contained to the area where it started.

"Closing all internal doors when you leave a room, whether you're at a business or at home, is always the right thing to do - it's an easy precautionary measure to slow down a fire spreading."

The compartment the fire started in suffered fire and heat damage and adjoining compartments have suffered some smoke damage.

A final investigation is taking place today but the cause is believed to be accidental.