A serious weekend blaze, which forced several Co Antrim families from their homes, is being investigated by the police.

They have labelled the fire as "suspicious" after it broke out in a vehicle workshop on the Old Belfast Road, Larne at 2.30am on Sunday morning.

Although an exclusion zone of 200 metres was set up around the building as a precaution, it has been reported that some families ignored the risk of serious gas explosions to return to their homes while the alert was still in progress.

The fire, which led to diversions and the closure of a section of the A8 dual carriageway outside the town, was so bad because it involved gas cylinders - which are treated as unexploded bombs until cooled sufficiently.

"When we got there the buildings had been burning for some time and we decided not to risk lives and instead decided to focus on cooling down the oxy-acetylene gas cylinders," said Mark Beresford, acting Assistant Group Commander with the NI Fire & Rescue Service.

"They are very volatile when hot and have been known to explode up to 24 hours after being cooled.

"They retain hotspots despite have jets of water trained on them for a substantial period of time," he said, noting that they are then volatile and can explode if the cylinder is moved.

Families were evacuated immediately after 2.30am and although firefighters went to set up a rest centre the families all went to stay with friends and family instead.

Mr Beresford said the cylinders had been part of a welding rig and that they were monitored with a thermal imaging camera until cooled.

The A8 dual carriageway, which had been closed between the Circular Road and the Highways junction, was reopened yesterday evening.

(BMcC/JM)