Martin Banthorpe, 27, grabbed his dog, Tyke, as he fled.

He said: “I was at home when I heard the shout from the police helicopter that we should all leave as quickly as possible.”

Emphysema sufferer Julie McGregor was stranded without her 20-litre cylinder of oxygen.

The 47-year-old said: “I need oxygen 24 hours a day. When we were told to leave I grabbed a cylinder that lasts for four hours because I didn’t realise we would be out here so long. They told me to go to hospital but I don’t want to because I’ll end up staying there all night.”

A worker at the garage said he believed the blaze was started by workers mistakenly lighting a fire in a bin that previously contained oil.

The man, who wasn’t present at the time, said: “We usually burn our rubbish in a particular bin, but I understand someone used a different one without realising it had contained oil.

“The fire obviously went a lot bigger. When the fire fighters heard there were gas cylinders they had to withdraw and deal with the fire from a safe distance.”