Evacuation after arcade fire

Hundreds of stunned shoppers watched as fire crews fought a severe blaze at an empty store near Walsall's oldest shopping centre.

Twenty eight firefighters brought the fire under control rubbish was deliberately set alight in an extension at the rear of the three-storey building once occupied by businesses UK Phones and Grimshaws.

Scores of shoppers and staff in Victorian Arcade were told to leave when the centre's fire alarms were triggered shortly after 1.30 yesterday afternoon.

Station Officer Dave Birch, said shops and offices were evacuated between Digbeth in Walsall Market and the Littlewoods Clearance shop, in Bradford Street.

He said: "This was caused by arson after someone lit some rubbish and the flames caught the timber frame.

"We had responded to the alarms at the Victorian Arcade further down the road, but when we arrived there we realised the fire was actually a few doors away. We evacuated the shops and businesses really as a precaution.

"The fire was in a small single storey building at the back where there was evidence of needles and drugs use. The fire spread to the roof space and there was concern for the row of terraced shops."

Traders and shoppers were allowed to return after a 30-minute wait.

Adrian Butcher, of Arcade Dental Surgery, said: "Our alarms went off at about 1.30, but luckily it was during the lunch hour. There were no patients and some of the staff were out at lunch."

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze in the empty two-storey extension. Crews from Walsall, Bloxwich, Willenhall and Wednesbury were called and an hydraulic platform was used.

Kerry Smith, aged 25, visiting from London, said that she was shopping in Walsall Market nearby when she and a friend spotted the smoke.

"We were in the market when we saw some smoke and when we got closer we could see the it coming out the top of the building," she said. "We then came round to the front and we saw it coming out the windows and the door."

By Deborah Stewart