Seven crews were dispatched to the scene

Firefighters from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are currently at the scene of an industrial unit fire in Eckersley Road, Chelmsford.

Two crews from the city,plus additional resources from Witham, Great Baddow, Tollesbury, Leaden Roding, and Colchester were all dispatched at 3.24am on Friday morning (November 12).

On arrival, firefighters reported that the unit, which measures approximately 30m x 40m, was 70% alight and 100% smoke logged.

At 5am Incident Commander Russ Freeman offered the following update: "We quickly divided the unit into sections to tackle the fire and now our crews are working hard to bring the fire under control and stop it spreading to adjoining buildings.

"We've currently got six crews working at ground level and one aerial ladder platform tackling the fire from above.

"We expect to be here for some time before we are able to fully extinguish the fire so please avoid the area."

This is a live incident. Further updates will be added to our live blog below.

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To recap all the events of this morning:

The 30m x 40m unit was 70 per cent alight and 100 per cent smoke logged

By 7am, the fire was under control and almost out, having been contained from spreading to neighbouring buildings

The cause of the fire remains unknown at this stage

Thank you for following this blog, this will be the last update of the morning.

An update has been issued on the state of the fire.

A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: "Crews have worked well to surround the fire and bring it under control. The fire is now almost out.

"Four fire engines from Corringham, Billericay, Newport and Brightlingsea will now relieve current crews and take over the incident.

"Please continue to avoid the area."

There are currently no traffic delays as a result of the fire, due to the unit being away from any main roads in Chelmsford.

There is potential for traffic to increase as more people begin their journeys to work this morning, but all roads are flowing well so far.

The fire service has advised it expects to be at the site "for some time" to fully extinguish the blaze in the building.

All seven vehicles remain at the scene and at present the fire is still ongoing and has not been put out.

It is expected access to any other buildings on the road will be limited at this time.

The fire service reported that upon arrival the building itself was 70 per cent alight, and 100 per cent smoke logged.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has sent six crews to tackle the blaze with seven vehicles in total including an arial ladder platform.

The fire engines have been sent from Chelmsford, Witham, Great Baddow, Tollesbury, Leaden Roading and Colchester.

The incident has taken place at an address in Eckersley Road, Chelmsford, started at around 3.30am this morning.

The fire service has said the unit on fire in the road is 100 per cent alight, and crews are trying to contain it.

Welcome to this live blog on the ongoing incident in Chelmsford where a huge fire has started at an industrial unit.

We will bring you more updates on the situation as they come in.