FIREFIGHTERS battled through a “wall of fire” to rescue a man from a burning building.

The dramatic rescue came after the workman became trapped in the former car wash premises in Kingsway Southampton when a fire broke out yesterday afternoon.

Whilst firefighters battled the blaze inside thick plumes of smoke were seen rising into the skyline and a small crowd gathered outside to watch the rescue bid.

Watch manager at St Mary's fire station Stuart Vince, said: “It was a disused car place there was some additional rubbish inside and there were two workers inside at the time.

“The firefighters came inside and rescued one of the workers who was trapped at the back of the building.

They had to knock down a wall of fire before rescuing him. We had to use alot of water.”

The man who was understood to be working to clear the building which was disused, was brought out and treated at the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation and later released.

More than 20 fire-fighters from Hightown and St Mary's were involved in the fire fighting effort to bring the blaze under control using breathing apparatus, jets and an aerial platform to bring the fire under control.

A cordon was also set up around the area which was manned by police officers whilst other emergency services attended the scene after the fire broke out at around 3pm.

One eye-witness was Harry Morgan, 23, who was cycling past at the time and said he could see plumes of black smoke.

He said: “The smoke was the big problem, but fire-fighters responded pretty quickly to bring it under control.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was not known but arson had been ruled out.