More than 150 people who have been evacuated from their homes around Falmouth Docks will not be allowed to return for 24 hours.

They are currently spread around the town, staying with friends, with some at the Falmouth Hotel, following the major fire that broke out at the docks at around 8am.

Giving a statement outside the docks gate just a few minutes ago, Inspector Miles Topham stressed that the incident was “still ongoing.”

There are 18 acetylene tanks that are partially open, which are causing the most worry.

A further 70 are full, which could potentially explode, out of a total of 240 cylinders.

The fire started just as workers were going around their day-to-day duties and there would be no investigation into the cause.

He said there were no injuries reported, due to the good work of the fire service who had taken control of the incident.

The majority of workers had all been evacuated by road, apart from a few who would remain in safe places around the docks.