THE owner of Ledbury transport firm A.B.E. has praised firefighters who worked in blistering heat to prevent flames reaching his lorry fleet and fuel tanks.

Andy Boyle estimates the fire at the Bromyard Road depot caused £10,000 worth of damage.

"It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened," he said, "Disaster was averted by prompt action. I can give the firefighters a commendation."

A member of the public called the fire brigade at 2.20am on Saturday morning.

By then, two storage containers holding paints, thinners, tyres and spare parts were "well alight".

Sub-Officer Terry Phillips estimated that the flames were shooting 15 metres into the air.

Video evidence, studied later, showed that the fire had actually started at 1.16am and had burnt for over an hour before the alarm was raised.

A smouldering bonfire is being considered as a possible cause.

Mr Boyle was called out of bed to move three of his lorries, two of which had already suffered scorch damage to the sides. But a Vauxhall Combo van had already been gutted and the cab of a Bedford lorry was severely damaged by the flames.

SO Phillips said: "My first concern was the adjacent vehicles to the fire. The heat was so intense for a good hour. Potentially, it was a very serious situation, had the wind been in a different direction. Fuel tanks were nearby."

At the height of the blaze, there were 17 firefighters in action and two officers directing operations.

Two appliances came from Ledbury Station, one from Malvern and the specialist water carrier from Hereford was also called out.

Firefighters took almost four hours to deal with the blaze.