Firefighters tackled a blaze at the Paynes Road Vehicle Centre in Southampton

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When firefighters arrived at Paynes Road Vehicle Centre last night flames had ripped through the roof of its reception building, which was completely destroyed.

They were called out to the centre in Freemantle shortly before 10pm, with five fire engines from Redbridge, St Mary's and Hightown attending.

Owner of the business John Mayhew was not informed of the blaze until 7am this morning.

He said: "It's the last thing you expect to see when you come work.

"It has really set us back because there are people who rely on us. Everything is burnt to the ground, computers, documents the lot.

"And I still have to MOT cars today."

Mr Mayhew added: "Thankfully there was no damage elsewhere on the site, and people can still come and get their vehicles MOT'd."

A clean operation got underway at 6am in the morning when a member of staff saw the news on Facebook.

Mr Mayhew said it could have been a computer spark or worse someone breaking in a setting the place a light.

He said: "The reception is wrecked and it looks like we are going to have to knock it down and start again.

"It really is going to be an unwanted strain no the business."

Stuart Vince, watch commander at St Mary's, said there had been concerns that the fire could get to cylinders in the garage at the site, but they put it out before it reached the building.

He said: "The main fire was in the reception area and that is totally destroyed.

"It was going pretty well when we got here, there were flames going through the roof.

"We were initially concerned about cylinders in the garage, and the old people's home next door."

He said the old people's home did not have to be evacuated and that crews used high pressure hose jets to extinguish the fire in the reception building.

An investigation has been launched and it appears the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

A resident of Paynes Road said she could see smoke emerging from her window and wondered what was going on. 

In the wake of the incident fire service chiefs have urged city businesses to ensure they leave all electrical equipment switched off when their premises are unattended.

A spokesman said: “We ask all businesses to ensure that they have a fully up to date Fire Risk Assessment and a robust fire routine, particularly when leaving premises unattended.

"We have specialist fire safety advisors ready to help and we run free fire safety workshops for all businesses in Hampshire.

“If necessary a Business Fire Safety Team who would be willing to help and visit businesses to ensure that they are fully aware of all necessary fire safety requirements and guidance."

Businesses can access all our specialist fire safety information, advice and guidance, including booking a free workshop, through hantsfire.gov.uk/keeping-safe/business-fire-safety or by calling 023 9285 5180 or email csprotection.admin@hantsfire.gov.uk.

Caris Sinclair, 20 said it was all dealt with very quickly. 

She said: "From the moment I saw the smoke to when the fire engines turned up was really quick. 

"Obviously you don't expect to see that on your doorstep but the fire service did such a great job of dealing with it."