TWO businesses have been severely damaged after a fire broke ripped through their buildings.

Firefighters spend more than two hours on Saturday afternoon tackling the blaze which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to two units and a number of vehicles in the garages.

Once the fire was under control the number of fire appliances was reduced and the majority of crew had left the scene just before 5pm.

Incident Commander Dave Turton co-ordinated 30 firefighters as they tackled the blaze on Snowdon Road, Riverside Park Industrial Estate, Middlesbrough, when the fire was at its height at around 1pm.

He said: “This was a significant fire in terms of size.

“You could see the plume that was coming off and we had to make sure that we prevented the fire from spreading to the next property, which is also a garage.

“We managed to do that and I would like to praise the work of the crews for controlling the fire in a short period of time.

“I would also like to thank the police for helping us to control the area.”

This morning (Sunday, November 9) a Cleveland Fire Brigade spokeswoman confirmed the level of damage that has been assessed at the early stage of the investigation in to the fire.

She said: "The majority of damage was to AA Motors, there was 100 per cent damage to the roof, 13 to15 vehicles damaged, assorted car spares and garage equipment were destroyed by fire. The next door unit, K & E Motors, this unit had several vehicles damaged."

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said they closed roads around the fire to ensure people's safety.

She added: "A number of fire appliances and police officers are at the scene – along with colleagues from the ambulance service although there are not currently believed to be any casualties.

"A small number of roads in the immediate area have been closed off to protect the public and to allow emergency services to continue their work."

The cause of the fire is currently unknown but a joint investigation will be carried out by the fire brigade and the police once a check has been carried out to ensure the buildings are structurally safe.