FIREFIGHTERS have been battling a blaze for seven hours in Grays.

Crews from across Essex joined forces to beat back the blaze in Maidstone Road today (Thursday June 30), after containers full of flammable goods caught alight.

Speaking during the event, commander John Sherrington said: "Crews are likely to be here all day and potentially into the night as we continue to battle to find the seat of the fire to extinguish it.

"The situation crews are facing is a series of nine containers piled two high in the yard of a fabrics and material shop.

"The containers are all filled to the brim with linen, pillows and fabric and we know that at least four are alight.

"The difficulty we face is in gaining access to the containers to establish exactly where the fire is."

He added the containers are sealed and the fire is deep-seated, buried under piles of fabric.

Crews have cut holes in the drums and are planning on flooding them with water.

Mr Sherrington added: "Crews are doing an excellent job in hot smoky conditions as we tackle this fire."

On arrival at 5am crews from Brentwood, Rayleigh Weir and Bilericay reported the containers were 50 percent alight.

They were later joined by crews from Waltham Abbey, Rayleigh Weir, Wickford and Hawkwell.

Firefighters are using three hose reel jets, one main jet and one ground monitor to tackle the fire.