Major incident declared after 'almighty explosion' at Tilbury Docks

A major incident was declared at Tilbury Docks on Friday morning following an "almighty explosion" in a grain silo at the port.

Dramatic pictures and video posted on Twitter showed the impact of the explosion had seriously damaged the roof.

Residents living nearby took to social media in the aftermath of the incident, with one user saying that the blast had made "her house shake", while another wrote: "OMG Just witnessed an almighty explosion in Tilbury Docks."

A spokesperson for the port confirmed that no injuries were reported and an investigation is now underway.

“Earlier this morning (3 July) there was an explosion at the grain terminal within the Port of Tilbury. We can confirm that no-one was injured," a spokesperson said.

The remainder of the port is open as usual.

The East of England Ambulance Service said one person was taken to hospital after inhaling smoke, while Essex Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they were called to the incident just before 10am on Friday morning, and the fire is now under control.

“We’ve now reduced the number of crews needed to two, and these firefighters will continue to remove unaffected grain and allow the grain to smoulder in the top of the grain silo," Watch Manager Dave Bond said.

“It was a great joint response from the Ambulance Service, Port of Tilbury Police, Fire Service and Port to control the incident and stop it from escalating.”

Local resident Keane Earland told ITV News Anglia he thought a bomb had exploded.

"Me and my partner were laying in bed, and both of us jumped up - we thought a bomb had gone off," he said.

"Then, five minutes later we heard the ambulances, fire brigade, helicopters flying over the house. "