Orpington bus depot fire: Firefighters battle huge blaze as eleven buses go up in flames in south-east London

Orpington: smoke billows into the sky from inside the bus depot (Picture: London Fire Brigade)

Dozens of firefighters tackled a huge blaze after 11 buses went up in flames at a depot in south-east London.

Dramatic images showed smoke billowing into the sky as flames ripped through the vehicles at the Orpington garage in the early hours of Thursday.

Witnesses described waking up to the sound of “ten huge explosions” as they took to social media amid the chaos shortly before 4am.

About 60 firefighters and eight fire engines were at the scene in Farnborough Hill.

The fire at the bus garage (JIM BENNETT)

London Fire Brigade (LFB) urged people to avoid the area.

Orpington: smoke billows into the sky from inside the bus depot (London Fire Brigade)

Amy Spencer tweeted: "Woken up by 10 huge explosions and what looks like a big fire near Sevenoaks road in Orpington."

Another person wrote: "Turns out it's the bus garage. Fuel tanks blowing up I guess!"

Firefighters at the bus garage (JIM BENNETT)

LFB said in statement: "Firefighters are working hard to tackle the blaze but travel in that area will be difficult due to the number of appliances in attendance, avoid the area if you can.”

The scene after a fire at Orpington bus garage (Ben Morgan)

The blaze was under control by 8.30am on Thursday.