ANImAl AbuSE

Shoppers had to flee from a Tesco Express after an outof-control bonfire erupted into 10ft flames. Woman kept dogs in squalor

The fire was lit at a derelict building and spread to the store in Loose Road.

Cars had to be held on Upper Stone Street while fire crews got the blaze under control and checked the scene was safe as gas canisters are stored nearby. It began around 2pm on Wednesday.

Tesco staff noticed an acrid smell and quickly evacuated customers.

The shop is still closed. Tesco Express worker Greg Forbes said: “They said it was a bonfire but we had a look and it was uncontrolled. It went all the way up the side of our building and we didn’t know what was going on.

“I smelled something when I was out the back – it happens all the time. You sort of know they are burning something, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”

The blaze is also believed to have affected a nearby double garage.

The fire service is treating the cause of the incident as accidental and smoke Turn to page 5

Picture, above: Rob Watts Above, the plume of smoke seen rising above the shop; inset, fire crews damping down after the blaze behind Tesco Express, with the scorched shop wall behind