A large fire has broken out close to Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium, just a few hours before their match against Preston is due to kick-off.

Eighteen fire engines are at the scene of the blaze, which involves four industrial units just yards away from the ground.

The PA news agency has contacted Southampton to find out whether the Championship match will be impacted.

The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire Service said: “Crews are currently attending a fire in Marine Parade Southampton. The initial call came in at 13:05.

“The fire is affecting industrial units near St Mary’s football stadium.

“People in the area are advised to keep windows and doors closed due to the amount of smoke.

“Some roads local to the incident are closed and people are advised to avoid the area to allow movements of emergency vehicles.”

Accountant Chris Harwood posted footage of the fire filmed from the north of the stadium on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Harwood, 25, told the PA news agency: “We could see a large smoke cloud from our office in Ocean Village, Southampton at lunch so decided to walk towards it to work out where it was coming from.”

The EFL is understood to be in touch with Southampton about the fire.