Fire fighters are today continuing to damp down a still smouldering warehouse which caught ablaze yesterday.

Seventy-two fire fighters and police were called to Bond Road just after 1pm after a medical supplies warehouse caught alight.

Black smoke could be seen as far away as Richmond while dozens of nearby residents came out onto the streets to watch.

Video by Giacomo Mantovani - Avant-garde Pictures

A wedding reception, which would have seen 500 guests attend, was interrupted by the blaze after its guests were evacuated from the building next door as the fire took hold.

Aziz Chaudry, uncle of the groom, said: "We came out and my car was completely covered in smoke. "You couldn’t see anything at all.

"I have never seen anything like it."

"I looked at my nephew's face and it was the shock of his life.

"It was just one of those unfortunately things."

He added: "We saw thick smoke going up in the sky all in front of our building as well.

"Police controlled it very well.

"A lot of people were coming out to look and the police said this is dangerous move back.

"They did an excellent job."

Fortunately only around 20 guests had arrived at the time of evacuation with hundreds more turned away as they arrived because of the road closures put in place.

Mr Chaudry said: "Probably about 200 people remained.

"We moved to another restaurant but it was chaotic."

Ten fire engines battled the blaze bringing it under control by about 3.20pm. Another eyewitness, Amal Omar, said: "We all thought it was afternoon fireworks and decided to look outside.

"After four hours fire fighters finally have it under control.

"Pretty scary, but police and fire engines arrived at the scene within five minutes." The fire severely damaged the building but fortunately there were no casualties.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.