The blaze broke out at 10.30am today at London Southend Airport’s perimeter.

An airport spokesperson said an Air Livery hangar had gone up in smoke.

Aviation feed Airlive tweeted that it an “explosion” had happened.

Peter Gettings was waiting to board a flight when he noticed the flames.

The 37-year-old physiotherapist was told by airport staff that a hangar was ablaze.

He told Essex Live: "I could see the flames from the terminal… it was really thick black smoke."

An airport spokesperson confirmed firefighters were dealing with an "incident… on the north side of the airfield".

No delays have yet been reported from any airline and the airport is open and operating as normal.