A MASSIVE warehouse blaze yesterday morning wreaked havoc in Winsford as 60 firefighters tackled a 'raging inferno' at Morrisons supermarket.

Three fire engines raced to the scene at around 2.15am after fire alarms went off and 999 calls flooded in from worried residents, but firefighters soon made an urgent call for back up.

At the height of the blaze 10 fire engines and fire crews from all over the county were battling to beat back the flames.

As dawn broke, roads around the store were closed and two 'cherry-picker'-style aerial platforms dispensing 1,000 gallons of water per minute were brought in to try to extinguish the fire from above.

Police considered evacuating nearby residents when the severity of the blaze became apparent. They also declared the fire a serious incident - just one level below a major incident such as a plane crash. Speaking at the scene, assistant divisional fire officer Martin Dowle praised the bravery of his firefighters in combating the blaze.

He said: "Aggressive firefighting techniques saved this supermarket. It was a hell of a fire. It's a scene of devastation in there. This fire was a raging inferno and all the firefighters have done a really good job.

"This was a real challenge of their firefighting abilities in heavy smoke, excessive heat and of course in pitch blackness in the middle of the night.

"Under arduous circumstances they managed to control it.

"At one point the fire was 20ft above the building - you could not see anything and it was breaking out of the back corners of the warehouse."

He added that it was only a breezeblock firewall separating the L-shaped warehouse from the rest of the store that prevented the fire consuming the entire supermarket.

At 10am firefighters were still damping down the charred remains of the warehouse interior, which was totally gutted by the fire.

Eddisbury MP Stephen O'Brien praised firefighters for their quick response.

He said: "Fortunately the speed of the emergency services' response has meant that there have been no serious injuries or fatalities.

"The quick thinking and actions of the fire service resulted in them being able to bring the fire under control."

CHECK out our exclusive online pictures from the fire, which you can get to from the Winford homepage.

rfraser@guardiangrp.co.uk