A huge fire at a paint factory sent smoke billowing across London with eyewitnesses reporting "fireballs" shooting into the air.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said nearly 100 firefighters tackled the large blaze that completely destroyed a paint factory on Waterloo Road, Staples Corner.

Achal Dhillon who lives in Hendon, less than half a mile from the scene, said the fire burned "quite violently" for more than 30 minutes.

The 33-year-old said he saw fireballs being propelled into the air from the burning building up to a height of 100 metres.

Witnessing the fire spread through the building Mr Dhillon, after spotting what was initially a small blaze or a "little dot", said there was then a "loud pop".