Portsmouth firefighters tackle blaze at Copnor industrial unit

48 firefighters attended the incident at the 65ft by 26ft building, used as a paint and welding shop.

The fire is understood to be at Portsmouth Aviation, with crews entering a building on site, and it has now been extinguished.

Firefighters remain at the scene ‘to dampen down’ Hampshire Fire and Rescue had said.

Recap all the updates in our live blog at the bottom of this story.

People are being asked to avoid the area so emergency vehicles can get through.

South Central Ambulance Service’s incident response unit is also at the scene.

A fire service spokeswoman said: ‘Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service received a call at 8.18am this morning reporting a fire in Portsmouth.

‘The fire is located in a building used as a paint and welding shop, approximately 8x20m in Anchorage Park in Portsmouth.

‘There are currently 48 firefighters at the scene with specialised vehicles and appliances from Cosham, Southsea, Havant, Fareham, Emsworth, Portchester, Eastleigh and Romsey fire station in attendance.’

Workers at CTD Tiles saw the incident unfold.

Kev Parker said: ‘I could see a little bit of smoke but it progressively got worse and worse.’

He said people at Portsmouth Aviation were evacuated at the alarm was raised.

Harry Mills added: ‘There were a couple of fire engines out here and it got thicker, and thicker and they closed off the roads.’

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service tweeted: ‘Crews are currently attending an incident in the Anchorage Park area of Portsmouth.

‘Please avoid the area to allow access for emergency vehicles.’

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