A FISH and chip shop was damaged by fire shortly before opening for business on what is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year.

K Singh was getting ready to welcome Good Friday customers to Fry Time, in High Street, West Cornforth, County Durham, when he spotted the blaze in the extractor ducting.

Mr Singh, who has operated the business for just over a year, attempted to tackle the incident with his own extinguisher before calling Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.

He was working alone in the shop when fire broke out, shortly before 11.30am.

Appliances from Spennymoor and Durham, along with aerial ladder platform from Durham, were at the scene for about an hour.

Peter Maddison, station manager at Durham, said four officers wearing breathing apparatus had quickly brought the fire under control.

“We suspect there has been a fire in the ducting system of the chip shop and this has radiated heat into the roof void.”

Police closed High Street for the duration of the incident.

The shop was not badly damaged but with the fryers out of action, Mr Singh, of Bishop Auckland, has been forced to close temporarily.

“I was working in the shop on my own and getting ready to open,” he said.

“I saw the fire and turned everything off. It's the first time anything like this has ever happened.”

It was fortunate Mr Singh spotted the fire as his shop was not fitted with an alarm.

Mr Maddison said: “We strongly urge people to ensure they have working smoke alarms fitted in both their homes and businesses and that they test the alarms every week.”

He said home safety visits, including the free fitting of smoke alarms, could be aranged by contacting Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service on 0845-2234221 or going online at ddfire.gov.uk.