THESE are the images of the Southampton garage that was left gutted after it was engulfed in flames.

Residents have spoken of their horror as the fire ‘leapt’ over walls and took hold of the building, which is now likely to be demolished.

Allensons Garage in Lumsden Avenue, Shirley, was destroyed on Monday after the fire swept through the premises, destroying seven cars in the process.

The official cause of the blaze remains under investigation, despite it being treated by firefighters as accidental.

PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Firefighters still investigating cause of fire which destroyed garage in Shirley >>>

Now, those nearby at the time have spoken of their experience, as workers tried to save some of the vehicles that were taken by the fire.

Zac House owns the building as well as nearby business, GasWorks.

Tess Pearman, manager at GasWorks, called the fire service and said that she tried to rescue the car of her co-worker before hearing a ‘bombing’ noise and seeing flames leap over the wall.

Tess said: “After seeing the fire, I was going to get the car that was parked nearby, but Marilyn (the owner), was screaming at me to stop, saying ‘it was only a car’.

“I heard a huge bombing noise and all of a sudden the flames just went up.

“I’d have gone for it if I hadn’t have heard that. Insurance say it’s a write-off now because it’s all melted and that can form a harmful substance.”

Fire crews inspected the building on Monday night from the outside, as it had been deemed unsafe to enter.

One neighbour said he saw what looked like staff in the premises tidying up, with a vehicle in the garage being removed from a ramp.

He said: “I came home at 1.30pm because the first I saw of the fire was a picture on social media, and it looked like my house.

“All our windows were latched so the smell was getting in.

“I’ve seen people inside, and others come and go as things start to be tidied away.”

Another couple, Margaret and Edgar Rahman (pictured) were forced to flee after Margaret saw the smoke pour into the sky.

Margaret, 64, said if the flames had gotten any closer, that her windows would have caught fire after being bowed by the heat.

She said: “You can see the impact of the heat, any closer and it would have caught fire.

“We were okay after the morning, everyone was so nice and helpful after what was a morning full of panic.”

Edgar, 73, added: “The main thing is that no-one was hurt, which is amazing when you look at the state of the building now.”

Hampshire Constabulary said that the fire was being treated as non-suspicious.

At the scene, group manager Brian Rudman said it was likely the building would have to be knocked down.