REFINERY HIT BY BLAZE

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials visited the refinery at Coryton, Essex, on Tuesday - 24 hours before Wednesday's blaze.

HSE staff said inspectors from its hazardous installations division had carried out routine checks at the refinery.

But a spokesman said the checks were not directly linked to the area where the blaze broke out.

An investigation, headed by the HSE, was under way to establish the cause of the blaze.

No one was hurt but witnesses described seeing flames shoot 100ft into the air and feeling buildings shake when the fire erupted at about 11.30am on Wednesday.

Managers at the refinery said all staff - which include 500 employees and 600 contractors - had been accounted for.

It is the second time in less than two years that a major fire has broken out at an oil installation. In 2005, an explosion destroyed an oil storage depot at Buncefield in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

HSE officials said they would establish whether there was any link between the two incidents.

Refinery managers said the fire broke out at the Coryton plant following a leak of petroleum gas. But specialists said it was too early to discover the reasons for the blaze.