A blaze close to a petrol filling station in West Yorkshire could have caused an explosion, according to firefighers.

Crews from Wakefield and Ossett were called to a fire 25m from the Asda petrol station on Asdale Road, Wakefield at about 3pm yesterday afternoon.

Two 50ft conifer trees had been well ablaze before they arrived, and crew commander Richard Hames said the petrol station would have been at risk if the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction.

He said: “These were massive trees and at the height of the fire there would have been quite a big flame. If the wind had carried the embers towards the petrol station, there could have been a risk of explosion.

“There wasn’t much left of the trees by the time we arrived.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but CCTV footage is being studied.

He added: “Everything is cinder dry at the moment, so it might have been a discarded cigarette or something, but we just don’t know at this stage.”