Total, the French oil company, was lambasted on Thursday for failing to take full responsibility for a devastating explosion that caused hundreds of millions of pounds worth of damage.

Nearly three years after the blast at the Buncefield fuel storage terminal near Hemel Hempstead, corporate and residential victims packed into a London courtroom for the start of a civil trial that will determine who picks up the bill for their losses. A hush descended as they were shown video footage of a thick fog of petrol vapour enveloping the site just minutes before it ignited, sparking Europe’s largest peacetime blaze.