UPDATE: Fierce fire destroys M40 service station (From Oxford Mail)

UPDATE: Fierce fire destroys M40 service station

7:43pm Thursday 15th April 2010 in News By Dan Hearn

ONE of Oxfordshire's biggest service stations was almost completely destroyed in a fire today.

More than 120 firefighters from three counties battled the blaze at Cherwell Valley Services, at junction 10 of the M40, at Ardley, near Bicester.

Fire crews were still at the scene this evening and are expected to be at the scene throughout the night damping down.

The fire is believed to have started in a back room just before 1pm before spreading through the complex, causing the roof to partially collapse.

The cause of the blaze is not known.

Fifteen crews from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire battled to stop the blaze spreading to the neighbouring Travelodge hotel and the petrol station.

Hundreds of people had to be evacuated, but there were no reported injuries.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Richard Bowley said: “There is very significant damage “Oxfordshire crews will be at the scene throughout the night and investigations into the cause will not begin until the scene is safe, although at this time there are no suspicious circumstances.”

Thick black smoke poured into the sky and could be seen for miles around.

Police urged drivers to avoid all roads near the service station because thick smoke was drifting across the area and reducing visibility.

The roads affected were the M40 from junctions 9 to 11, the A43, B4100 and B430.

Witnesses described plumes of black smoke coming from the blaze.

Paul Jarvis, a van driver from Kidlington, was making a delivery at Ardley at about 2pm when he spotted the smoke.

He said: “I just saw plumes of black smoke billowing.

“The smoke was really intense and black, then we heard a lot of banging. I understand it was the roof caving in.”

Allan Kelly, 42, from Cholsey, was travelling from his home to Birmingham on the M40 when he saw the blaze.

He said: “Traffic was really slow, because everybody was breaking to have a look.

“There was really thick smoke being blown across the motorway and it did make conditions quite difficult. It was hard to see anything.

“There was so much smoke, it looked more like a volcano erupting than a normal fire.”

The main building had a Marks & Spencer food store, Costa Coffee, Burger King, WH Smith and cafe.

It was opened in 1994 and gave the 89-mile motorway its first service station, four years after building work was completed.

Andy Leatham, spokesman for the station’s parent company Moto, thanked the emergency services for their hard work.

He said: “Our priority now is to open an extensive, temporary facility, which we hope to do within the next few days.

“After that we will start planning the rebuild of the station.”