Dozens of firefighters battled a "large" straw fire in Essex with smoke visible from a motorway, sparking large amounts of calls.

The crews were called to the large amount of straw, covering an area around 60 metres by 30 metres which was completely alight, in Foster Street, near Harlow at 5.22pm last night.

Crews worked hard to get the fire surrounded and prevent it from spreading further. Control teams received a large amount of calls to the incident, with the fire visible from the nearby M11.

Echo:

An Essex Fire Service spokesman said: "By 6.50pm, firefighters reported that good progress was being made and that the fire was under control.

However, due to the material involved, crews advised that this was likely to be a protracted incident and they expected to be at the scene for some time.

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"Three new crews took over at 8pm. By 9.30pm, two crews remained at the scene.

"As of 8.30am today, two crews were continuing to manage a safe and controlled burn of the straw. The straw will burn under the watch of crews throughout today - firefighters will only leave the scene once the area has fully cooled.

"The cause of the fire will be established once the site is safe."