A top female firefighter has received praise for her cool head in dealing with a fire which ravaged a York city centre car park.

Homeless people fled for safety and drivers waited anxiously to find out if their cars had been damaged, as Sub Officer Jane Proud and her team tackled ten-foot flames and brought the fire under control in under an hour.

At the height of the blaze, on Saturday, ten North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service pumps and 73 firefighters were in action at the former Foxton's garage site off Leeman Road.

Divisional Officer Brian Bell said: "It is because of the quick thinking of Sub Officer Proud that this incident was brought under control in little under an hour.

"None of the cars actually ignited and had this occurred the combination of burning fuel and the risk of explosion in a confined space could have had a devastating impact."

Sub Officer Proud, one of only about ten female sub officers in the country, was keen to return praise to her colleagues.

She said: "Station officer Malcolm Austwick raised the number of pumps from four to ten, so he's really the star of the show.

"You're only as good as the team you lead, and they did very well.

"We were also lucky that the vents in the roof went through because there was risk of a flashback which would have made the place look like something out of a Hollywood movie. It was luck as well as good judgement."

Four homeless people were forced to grab what belongings they could before fleeing to safety when the fire started at about 4pm.

Matthew Dickinson, 21, had been living in the building for a week.

He said: "We were living in a disused toilet and I opened the door and it was full of black smoke so we could hardly see.

"I managed to grab my sleeping bag and my dog but I still have belongings inside.

"It was pretty frightening."

Drivers stood helplessly behind a police cordon waiting for information about the condition of their vehicles.

Fire investigation officers were today still working closely with police scenes of crimes officers to try and establish the exact cause. Arson has not been ruled out.

The building is now scheduled for demolition by the end of the week to make way for a seven-storey development of luxury apartments - a joint project between Taywood Homes and The Foxtons Venture.