A HUGE fire devastated the set of the latest James Bond film today.

Up to 60 firefighters tackled the blaze at Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire.

The roof of the warehouse-like sound stage - where filming for Casino Royale was said to have recently finished - caved in.

Witnesses said smoke from the blaze, which took firefighters 90 minutes to bring under control, could be seen up to 10 miles away.

Eyewitness Jen McVean, 27, said flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the building, which is partly made from corrugated steel.

Mrs McVean, who owns a special effects company at Pinewood, said there was no doubt the building was badly damaged.

She said: "There was a very big plume of smoke and we went into the studios to check and we could see the Bond stage was on fire. There were flames coming out of the roof.

"The roof has caved in. It was a very big fire. There were lots of fire engines there."

Scenes from the latest Bond film Casino Royale, which is still in production, were shot at Pinewood.

The film, which reportedly has a budget of 72 million US dollars (é39m), is partly based in Venice.

The vast 007 stage had been transformed into a replica of the Italian city.

Speaking at the scene, Fraser Pearson, of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the badly-damaged set was a "sorry" sight.

He said oxyacetylene gas canisters may have exploded inside the building, and there were fears of further blasts.

A 200m exclusion area has been created around the set as firefighters dampen it down. They expect to remain at the scene until tomorrow.

Mr Pearson said: "I am not an expert in the construction industry but it is buckled and warped and blackened, especially at one end and towards the roof.

"It is a very sad to see such an iconic structure looking quite so sorry. It is blackened and buckled and smoking and clearly has been quite badly damaged by fire.

"We do not know what the inside looks like because of the cylinders but the outside looks pretty bad so I am guessing the inside will be quite badly damaged as well."

Firefighters were alerted to the fire at 11.18am.

It is not he first time that a James Bond set at Pinewood Studios has been damaged by fire.

In 1984 an explosion ripped through a corrugated steel building built in 1976 for The Spy Who Loved Me and subsequently used to shoot four Bond movies.

The rebuilt set was reopened in January 1985 as the Albert Broccoli sound stage, named in honour of the producer of many Bond movies.