A SCRAPYARD owner turned up to work to find firefighters tackling a blaze in his offices yesterday morning.

Twenty-three firefighters dealt with the incident at Metal Salvage Ltd in Jackdaw Lane, off Iffley Road, during the early hours.

Neighbours said they could hear explosions before crews arrived and the owner of the yard, Robert Bradford said he turned up to find the road leading to his business cordoned off by police.

Flames gutted the site’s offices and fire fighters were still trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

Station manager Simon Belcher said the investigation was ongoing, but that they did not think it was arson. Mr Bradford said: “It was surprising, nothing like this has ever happened before.

“The bottom offices are gone, but they are still investigating.”

Mr Belcher said: “The fire was well developed by the time the crews arrived and they did a fantastic job gaining entry and putting out the fire before it had spread to the whole building and to cylinders that were in the area.

“It was quite a large fire, it was about 10 feet above the building. We suspected there were cylinders in there, but we haven’t found any remains yet.

The scrapyard is expected to be open today.