Crews have been called to a fire at an oil refinery in Coryton. Reports of an explosion are unconfirmed but ten appliances and seven specials are on the scene.

Fire on ground floor of the Naphtha Tower. Flames 100 feet up the column. Major foam attack in progress. Cooling monitors in use to avert potential for explosion.

The borough Emergency Planning Officer has been called to the scene.

At 12:30pm, a search was launched for persons reported missing from staff on site. This is a precautionary measure.

At 12:35pm, Essex crews are liaising closely with Coryton's own specialist fire teams.

At 12:40pm, All persons are accounted for at the incident. There are no plans to evacuate homes at this stage. Avoid Coryton area as road blocks are in place.

Update 1.30pm: Fire still burning in tower. Monitor jets are being put onto hydrogen plant. Crews wearing breathing apparatus are conducting a search and rescue operation in the immediate area.

Crews on the scene report cooling operations going well and estimate no further risk of development. Checking structural integrity of the tower and considering removing the product inside the tower. Essex crews still standing by.

Update 2pm:

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Mark Hardingham said: "We are no longer searching the area and are happy that everyone has been accounted for. There have been  no casualties.

"We are now involved in tactical meetings to decide on the next phase of action to extinguish the fire. Two foam lines have been laid out as a precaution at this stage.

"This is a site that is well known to us and we regularly visit the refinery to carry out training exercises with Petroplus' own petrochemical experts in preparation for this type of event. We are confident we have sufficient expertise and resources in place to bring the incident to a satisfactory conclusion."

ECFRS' specialist petrochemical officer ADO Mark Samuels is at the scene.

Update 15:10hrs: ACFO Mark Hardingham reports: "The fire is under control and is unlikely to develop further.

"The process of bringing the incident to a conclusion is likely to take some time - the refinery is a complex place and a number of areas are required to be shut down and managed in sequence to enable the situation to be restored to normal.

"All this takes time and for those who can see the fire, it is likely that the situation will appear unchanged for some time yet. People in the nearby communities should be assured that every effort is being made to bring the situation to a swift and safe conclusion."

Update 15:15 hrs: Crews report that the fire is out. Flames self-extinguished as the pressure in the tower dropped as a result of cooling operations. There is still a risk from unignited Naptha vapors and crews continue to work alongside Petroplus specialists to bring the incident to conclusion.

Update 17:30hrs - ECFRS attendence at this incident has been scaled back to two appliances who will be working alongside specialist crews from the refinery to suppress and contain the vapor cloud which has escaped as a result of this incident.

Update 20:40hrs - ECFRS presence at this incident has now been scaled back to just one appliance. Crews are working with the onsite firefighters to suppress the vapors and operations are currently going well.

Update Thursday 08:00hrs - The last remaining crews ECFRS crew left the site last night and as far as the service is concerned this incident is now closed. ECFRS' specialist petrochemical officer will be meeting with Petroplus this morning to further assess the incident.

We have no information relating to the cause of the fire at this stage.

Media enquiries relating to the company and its employees should be directed to 01375 361313.