FLAMES shot 15 feet into the air as fire crews battled a blaze in a Newtown garage.

Firefighters from Caversham and Wokingham Road stations were called shortly before 4am after the inferno broke out on Radstock Road.

Wokingham Road were first to the incident and found extremely high temperatures coming from the garage on the back of terraced housing.

Two cars in the garage were destroyed in the blaze as was a black cab parked on the street outisde with a fouth car partially burnt.

Abid Riaz lives near the road and his sister owned one of the cars torched in the blaze.

"Someone knocked on our door at about 4am to say there was a fire.

"I think there were four or five fire engines here.

"There are drums of oil at the back of the garage and the heat has cracked the wall.

"We'd just bought new seat covers for one of the cabs. They came all the way from Nottingham.

"It will all be repaired but it's the stress and the damage it's caused."

Due to the contents of the garage, which was being used as a workshop, the crews were worried the fire would spread out of control.

Robin Jordan, Delta Watch Manager from Wokingham Road Fire Station, said: "There was a garage fire in Radstock Road. There were two vehicles inside the garage and a couple of vehicles parked outside on the road.

"It had caused damage to a telephone poll and we were obviously very concerned, because there was a bit of smoke entering a nearby premises.

"Four appliances were used and it reached a very high temperature inside the garage due to the contents and the supporting wall was starting to give way by the time the fire was put out. We used three hose reels and a main jack.

"This was at about 3.50am. Nobody was injured. The garage was a workshop so we were concerned that some of the items might cause the fire to spread.

"The fire was well alight by the time we arrived at the scene. There is an ongoing investigation to discover the cause of the outbreak of the fire."

A car with two Thames Valley Police officers remained on the scene until it was made safe.

A force spokesman said: "We were called at 4.10am to reports of a fire in Radstock Road, Reading.

"Investigations into the circumstances are being undertaken by both Police and the fire service to determine the circumstances.

"The road is closed at this time while both services carry out their investigations."