Jaguar Land Rover will be left counting the costs of an enormous fire which has engulfed almost 6,000 cars shipped from the UK to China.

Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of vehicles, all made in the West Midlands or Halewood, Merseyside, have been damaged or destroyed after giant explosions in Tianjin which have so far claimed the lives of 114 people.

Shares in Indian parent group Tata Motors fell on the Mumbai stock exchange today after it admitted the impact on around 5,800 vehicles recently shipped to China.

The Midland car giant said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with them as well as with all those who were injured in this tragic event.

“Tianjin Port is one of three major locations in China through which Jaguar Land Rover imports vehicles. At the time of the explosion, approximately 5,800 vehicles that had recently been shipped to China were stored at various locations in Tianjin.

“However, access to facilities near the site of the explosion remains restricted and so whilst we believe many of these vehicles may have been damaged, we are presently unable to quantify the numbers of units affected.”

The damage came after the recent chemical explosion thought to be down to an acetylene blast.

JLR has joined other global carmakers including Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota and BMW counting up their losses.

Smoke billows from the site of an explosion that reduced a parking lot filled with new cars to charred remains at a warehouse in Tianjin
Smoke billows from the site of an explosion that reduced a parking lot filled with new cars to charred remains at a warehouse in Tianjin

Shares in Tata motors fell by as much as four per cent following the revelation.

JLR would appear to have been the worst hit by the blast after Chinese state media reported that 8,000 cars worth about £400 million were destroyed.

An investigation has been launched in the Far East into what caused the two huge explosions at the warehouse storing volatile chemicals at a busy port in northeast China.

The warehouse, designed to house dangerous and toxic chemicals, was storing mainly ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and calcium carbide at the time of the blasts, according to police.