A fire engulfed a Tesla car showroom in Crawley, West Sussex, on Saturday, and several explosions were reported at the site.

West Sussex fire and rescue service tweeted that they were called to attend “a significant fire” on County Oak Way at 10.29am, and that the building was “well alight”.

Six fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were sent to the scene. Plumes of thick black smoke were seen over the building.

Witness Thomas Ferryman told GetSurrey that he had heard “many small explosions”, which he believed could be batteries for the electric vehicles.

The fire has now been brought under control, with attending crews scaled back after 50 firefighters tackled the flames.

Tesla announced on Friday that it would be closing most of its showrooms and selling its vehicles online instead in an effort to cut costs and lower the price of its new Model 3 car by 6%.