WORKERS were evacuated and roads sealed off as up to £1m worth of polyester fabric went up in flames at a South Woodford warehouse.

A toxic plume rose hundreds of metres into the sky over Redbridge as 75 firefighters from across East London battled to control the blaze at Zaftex Textiles on the Raven Road industrial estate.

The alarm was raised at 3.50pm last Wednesday, as the fire took hold and ash-covered employees emerged from the inferno.

Company boss Farouk Randera of Manor Road, Chigwell, said that half-a-million yards of stock might have been destroyed as well as most of the three-storey building and half of its roof.

To make matters worse, neither the business nor the contents of the warehouse were insured.

He said: "It's been devastating. No-one will be able to say we did it for the insurance.

"There's nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is clear the debris and rebuild it.

"We've lost a substantial amount but we just don't know how much.

"All the paperwork was burnt in the office. It's very difficult to say, but a great deal.

"From what the fire people say it was accidental. It could have been a cigarette or it could be an electrical fault, but I think that's unlikely."

At the furniture warehouse next door, English Furniture by David Lawrence, managing director David Greenland was sitting in his office when the alarm was raised.

He said: "Someone from the building next door just rushed in and told us, which is just as well because we would have been just sitting here.

Continued from page 1 "I went to the window and it looked like Guy Fawkes was having a bit of a performance."

Two of the firm's vehicles were parked between the two buildings and a colleague dashed out to drive them to safety before the firefighters arrived.

Mr Greenland said: "We could have been trapped. Their building is only six feet away from us and it would have been a lot worse if the wind was blowing the other way. We couldn't get out the front into Raven Road, we had to climb over the fence at the back."

Fifteen fire engines including a major incident unit and a scientific support unit battled to bring the blaze under control and police sealed off the slip road from the A406 to Charlie Brown's roundabout as well as access from the roundabout to Chigwell Road.

Smoke, which was billowing over the M11 and the A406, could be seen for miles.

Mr Randera said: "I had just come back from the USA that morning and my manager dropped me off and went into work. I was sorting through my mail at home when I was called and told the place was on fire. I was absolutely horrified."

He has owned the company since 1982 and said he hopes to have the warehouse back up and running by Christmas but did not know if he would have to lay-off staff.

He added: "I'm keeping them on for as long as I can because my manager is organising things like safety fencing and floodlighting and it will take a week or two to clear the debris.

"It's not destroyed us, but it's a pretty big dent."

Firefighters managed to get the blaze under control by 10pm and the cause of the blaze is now under investigation.

Mr Randera said: "I had a no smoking rule in the warehouse because it's polyester fabric which will burn."