Fifty firefighters fought a blaze at a garden furniture factory in Lancing last night after an industrial oven exploded into a ball of fire.

The blaze at the Garden Xtras plant on the Churchill Industrial Estate caused damage worth about £100,000 and will close the factory until next spring.

The major incident meant West Sussex Fire Service had to mobilise virtually every available unit and part-time firefighter as cover throughout the county.

While crews were committed to the major incident at Lancing there were four other calls, involving car fires in Selsey and Haywards Heath, and two kitchen fires in Crawley Road, Horsham, and Cobnor Close, Gossops Green, Crawley.

A spokesman for West Sussex Fire Brigade said: "At one time we had virtually every appliance and firefighter committed to an incident or on standby, but we coped"

The fire at the factory in Chartwell Road, Lancing, started just after 5.30pm when there was an explosion in an industrial oven used for making iron furniture.

Smoke started billowing from the factory after flames spread to cardboard packaging and stock in the building.

The firm, which has been manufacturing garden goods for ten years, only moved to Lancing from Shoreham at the beginning of this year.

Steve Vincent, co-director of Garden Xtras, estimated they would not be able to reopen until next spring.

He said: "We won't be able to buy new machines until then because they are so specialised.

"This is a real blow. We sell our stuff all over the country. We were so keen to get things going after we moved to Lancing, and the company was just starting to do what we wanted it to."

Co-director Wayne Jones said: "I could not believe how much smoke there was last night. The fire gutted downstairs. The place was completely swarming with firefighters."

One of the first crews on the scene came from Shoreham, led by Station Officer David McMahon. Crews from Worthing and elsewhere from across West Sussex followed close behind.

The Chief Fire Officer of West Sussex, Martin Burrell, arrived on the scene to oversee operations.

One firefighter said: "The smoke was really thick inside. We could only work for limited periods and in relays. There was quite a blaze at the seat of the fire."

Firefighters spent more than four hours at the scene and managed to stop the fire spreading to neighbouring units.