Pudsey store reopens: Not just a fire... this was an M&S fire

The store at the Owlcotes Centre was closed to customers throughout yesterday, but this morning an M&S spokesman said: “We are pleased to confirm that our Pudsey store re-opened at 9am today. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience during the closure yesterday and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

No-one was hurt during the incident, which is thought to have been sparked by a piece of faulty equipment.

The fire broke out at just after 5am, before staff arrived to open the store at 9am.

The majority of the damage is thought to have been water and smoke-related.

The adjacent 24-hour Asda superstore was unaffected.

West Yorkshire Fire Service said it had sent crews from Stanningley and Bradford to a “fire in food hall, 190m x 130m”. A spokesman said the building had “100 per cent smoke logging to ground floor, flood damage from sprinkler system” and “salvage work [was] carried out.”