People are feared injured as firefighters tackle a major blaze at a fireworks factory following an explosion.
Eight appliances were sent to the factory on an industrial estate in Ringmer, near Lewes, East Sussex.
A mushroom cloud of smoke could be seen miles around the area with debris falling across a large area.
There are "people injured" as a result of the incident, a spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said. She was unable to disclose further details on numbers or the seriousness of their injuries.
She said: "We had a call at 13.50pm. Ten pumps are at the scene and there has been an explosion and there are people injured."
She said the location of the fire was at The Broyle in Ringmer. "From my own local knowledge of the area there are not a large amount of properties in the area, they are quite dotted around," she said.
John Davies, of The Black Lion pub in Halland, said customers felt the building shake when the fireworks started exploding.
He told BBC News 24: "The noise just kept getting louder and louder. About three o'clock was the loudest bang. It actually shook the pub and probably shook most of the houses in the village.
"As I understand the first of the fire brigade that went on the scene probably tried to enter and obviously reduce the risk factor and some of them, so I'm told, were injured."
Mr Davies added that a Chinese restaurant close to the factory had been evacuated by police. He also said there is an animal home nearby.
