The huge blaze at a goods yard in Canning Town, which caused a power cut affecting thousands of homes, is now under control.

The A13 Newham Way has now been reopened between the Canning Town Flyover and Aspen Way after the mammoth fire, which took hold in Wharf Street at about 3pm today.

At one stage, a warehouse, pallet yard and scrapyard were all alight.

Power supplies have also been fully restored.

A dozen fire engines from Plaistow, Stratford, Bow, Silvertown, Millwall and East Ham fire stations took almost three hours to put out the flames, which were seen from as far as Westfield Stratford City and Canary Wharf.

Motorists making their way home during rush-hour on the eve of the Easter weekend were stuck in long traffic tailbacks.

Crews remain at the scene this evening and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

A UK Power Networks spokesman apologised for the disruption and confirmed that 88,000 customers lost power shortly after 3.10pm.

Final supplies were restored by 4.20pm.

The London Fire Brigade said its crews were likely to remain there for some time.

Station manager Jim Morford added: “Several calls were received by the brigade’s control officers from members of the public who could see the huge plume of smoke rising from east London.”