A business affected by a devastating fire seen for miles on Sunday has praised firefighters who tackled the flames.

More than 80 firefighters were called to the blaze, on Bitterne Road West, at 5am on Sunday.

Robert Saunders, CEO of Customer Covers, has now spoken for the first time since the fire.

“On the morning of July 14, Custom Covers Ltd of Quayside Road in Southampton had a major fire which destroyed its raw material stores and linings hire departments. 

"The fire was reported by an employee of the Ravenscroft Motor Co Ltd on Bitterne Rd West in Southampton, who saw one of the cars in its yard going up in flames.

“The fire spread to the neighbouring property owned by Custom Covers Ltd.

“Custom Covers praised the Fire Brigade who were on site very quickly and got the fire contained. No one was hurt in the incident.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire involved multiple vehicles and started in a car before spreading quickly to a nearby vehicle.

Drone footage shows a massive plume of smoke rising over the site, while other video taken by residents shows the flames rising above hedges as firefighters fought to bring the fire under control.

The company has also been providing updates as it gets back on its feet after the fire.

The company said: “We are now back in the building with phones and electrics on at Custom Covers Quayside Road North.

“Our premises at Quayside Road South and all offices were not affected by the fire.

“The frame stores are unaffected and all orders are still being processed.

“We still hold a limited amount of undamaged PVC & Linings standard CC specification stock.

“Cleaning is well under way to allow more production areas to be opened.

“The biggest impact is on the linings and hire departments, where we continue to identify where there may be any issues with current orders.

“If you have an outstanding order with us and have not heard from our sales team we will be in touch as soon as possible.”