Food court evacuated after fire breaks out

Diners were evacuated from a shopping centre food court after a fire broke out in a unit that was being refurbished.

Fire crews were called to Eat Central at Dudley's Merry Hill Shopping Centre after the alarm was raised. People eating in the food court were evacuated and all entrances to it were sealed off as a precaution during the incident.

Staff at jewellers TH Baker, which is located next to the court, were also asked to close while fire crews tackled the blaze yesterday afternoon. The fire started in a hot air duct at the Hey Potato unit at the food court, which is currently undergoing refurbishment.

Contractors raised the alarm at around 12.30pm and originally tackled the blaze using a carbon dioxide extinguisher. Fire crews from Brierley Hill were called and brought the blaze under control.

However, the food court remained sealed off for more than two hours as fire crews carried out investigations to ensure the blaze had not spread to any other parts of the building. A thermal imaging camera was also used to ensure there were no hot spots in the ducting for the fire to start up again.

Staff at TH Baker were allowed to open the premises at around 2.15pm.

Merry Hill spokesman Kelly Reed said: "As a precaution we evacuated the Eat Central food court after a fire occurred in one of the units. Fire crews responded quickly and got the situation under control.

"We were able to get staff back into the food court in just over an hour and it was business as usual after."