A huge blaze at a paint factory sent fireballs shooting into the air in north London, witnesses said.

Nearly 100 firefighters tackled the flames on Waterloo Road, Staples Corner, as nearby residents were urged to keep their doors and windows shut.

London Fire Brigade said the blaze was "significant" and could be seen for "miles around".

A spokesman said: "The fire completely destroyed the single-storey building.

"Factory workers left before the brigade arrived. There were no reports of any injuries.


"Firefighters will be at the scene throughout the night damping down pockets of fire."

Image: The 'large blaze' broke out at a paint factory in north London. Pic: @BlakeRidder

Blake Ridder, who lives nearby, told Sky News he saw a "huge ball of fire" as he looked out of his bedroom window.

"You can actually feel the heat," he said.

Another resident, Achal Dhillon, saw fireballs sent up to 100m (328ft) into the air.

"We saw a lot of flames suddenly rise up by themselves," he said.

"Then just this huge mountain of fire, almost pyramid shaped and spiralling as it was shooting fireballs into the air."

Firefighters are working hard to bring the #StaplesCorner paint factory fire under control. If you're in the local area please shut your doors & windows. Updates will be tweeted on our feed © @EKesselman https://t.co/DknPQ31lxF pic.twitter.com/gYKfZFJM1u — London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) January 8, 2018

London Fire Brigade said it was alerted at 9.20pm on Monday and received more than 45 calls about the blaze.

Some 97 firefighters and 15 fire engines helped tackle the flames, which were brought under control shortly after midnight.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire.