A LARGE fire broke out in the yard of a tyre fitting company off Cowley Road, Oxford, this morning. 

Crews were called to the firm scene on Marsh Road shortly after 3.30am to reports of a blaze involving tyres and cars. 

Due to the intensity of the fire it had spread to a nearby office building and nearby residents were evacuated from their homes as a precaution.

At its peak there were eight fire engines and 45 fire fighters tackling the blaze.

Station Manager Simon Belcher said: "Due to the prompt actions of the first crews on the scene the fire was stopped and the damage limited to a small area, it could quite easily have spread without the quick intervention of the fire crews."

Residents were allowed back to their homes within two hours. Crews are expected to be at the site for the rest of today.

Fire investigators and Thames Valley Police are carrying out a detailed search to try and determine the cause of the fire.

Group Manager Mike Adcock said: "Thanks to quick thinking members of the public calling this in on 999 we were able to prevent this from being much worse than it could have been."

Incident Commander Mark Ames said: "It's too early to tell what caused the fire. We will be remaining here for the rest of the morning and probably the afternoon too."

Thames Valley Police said up to 40 properties nearby were evacuated and the force thanked residents for their patience as well as the landlord of the Marsh Harrier pub who opened to those who had been evacuated. 

Spokesman James Williams said the cause was being investigated and it was unlikely it would be known before Monday. He said the road would be reopened later. 

Merlin Lyons, 37, landlord of the Marsh Harrier with girlfriend Samantha Willis, 36, said: "Sam got up and saw all these flames. They were so high. So I called 999 but they had already received a few calls. Then our buzzer went and the police asked if would we be able to let a few people in out of the cold. So we opened up and gave everyone tea and coffee.

"We had about 15 people in here, and four cats!"

Bethany Wallis, 26, Marsh road, was evacuated from her home with her two cats Mitten and Sooty. "It was quite unpleasant but obviously necessary. We were a bit confused. We had not really woken up."

Rebecca of Oxford Road, said: "We were woken up by police knocking on our doors. We didn't know what the hell was going on. Then we looked outside and saw flames and this great plume of smoke."