Neighbours living near Wanstead Flats - the scene of London’s largest ever grass fire - have spoken of their shock as they watched in horror as flames jumped across the road into their estate.

The fire broke out just after 4pm on Sunday on grassland sandwiched between Lake House Road and Centre Road.

More than 200 firefighters were sent to tackle it.

Robert Miller, who lives in Lake House Road, was in his back garden enjoying a barbecue when he heard sirens and came out to have a look.

After seeing the fire had crossed the road from the flats and onto the lawn in front of his home, he and his neighbours sprang into action.

“I got a bucket and filled it with water and threw it on the flames,” he said.

“They were pretty high at one point – up to the trees. The smoke was very thick and a lot of people were frightened.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before – it took off really quickly. Everyone moved their cars away from the fire. People were bringing hoses over to quench it.

“All the neighbours got together and we had it out within 15 to 20 minutes. It was a community effort which was pretty amazing.

“We are all vulnerable and when things like this happen you just have to respond.

“The firefighters have done really well. I didn’t appreciate how long it takes to put out a fire because this type of fire burns underneath the earth and that’s the biggest danger.”

Bill and Sheila Sterling returned from holiday on Sunday afternoon to find themselves “stranded” in Leytonstone as no buses or taxis were able to get to their home in Belgrave Road.

The couple, who have lived in the estate for the past 53 years, said it has been 20 years since they saw an extensive fire on the flats opposite their home.

“We arrived home to chaos,” said Mrs Sterling.

“We were waiting an hour in Leytonstone and eventually hailed a cab who dropped us at the end of our road. The police didn’t want to leave us walk up but we had to.”

The London Fire Brigade issued a warning this week not to leave glass or cigarettes in open spaces, and said its team is “praying for rain” in the wake of the capital’s largest ever grass fire.

Father-of-two James Relph of Lake House Road said he was planning on evacuating his home with his wife and two young children until a firefighter told them to stay put.

He said: “We were going to leave but then we met a firefighter and he told us to stay in the house and close all the windows.

“They said there was no danger to us and we were personally happy to heed their advice.

“Our house filled with smoke and the smoke alarms went off and my daughter was scared. It was pretty shocking.

“I felt the firefighters did a really good job. They were out there pretty quickly and they had a lot to contend with.”

Neighbour Wayne Moriarty, added: “We were getting worried when we saw the fire and the wife started packing.

“It went up very quickly. From the time we saw it on the other side to the time it came over near us, it was only about 20 minutes.”