Streets nearby have been evacuated

"You could see the flames leaping 50 or 60 feet up into the air.

"The heat was intense and there were huge columns of acrid black plastic smoke," he said.

There were no reports of any injuries and all 19 members of staff escaped the fire.

Residents living close to the scene, on the corner of Mount Street and Gladstone Street, moved back to a safe distance.

Electricity supplies to scores of homes in the area were hit.

Children from nearby Forest Fields Primary School were sent home as thick black smoke billowed across the area.