A massive fire ripped through a car service garage in Walthamstow on New Year’s Eve causing a gas explosion.

More than 70 firefighters spent three-and-a-half hours battling a blaze at the Renault garage in Forest Road yesterday evening (Saturday, December 31).

Three quarters of the workshop was damaged by the fire, which broke out at around 7.50pm. Two cars and a van were also destroyed in the incident.

A cylinder containing propane exploded before firefighters arrived at the scene. Crews were however able to safely remove two other cylinders.

Firefighters from Walthamstow, Woodford, Holloway, Soho, Kentish Town, Chingford, Edmonton, Poplar and Stratford were present at the scene and extinguished the fire by 11.22pm.

LFB group manager John Graham, who was at the scene, said: "Crews were faced with a severe fire and worked very hard in difficult condition to bring it under control. 

London Fire Brigade worked with TfL to maintain service on the nearby Victoria line during the blaze.

The cause of the incident is now under investigation.