A NORTH-EAST community was last night counting the cost of a blaze which destroyed eight shops.

About 60 firefighters tackled the fire which gutted a fish and chip shop, two takeaways, a hairdressing salon, pharmacy, launderette, tattoo parlour and a bookmakers on Durham Lane, Eaglescliffe, Teesside on Saturday morning.

No-one is believed to have been in the shops when fire broke out in Figaro’s Italian takeaway, but residents from nearby flats had to be evacuated.

The fire is understood to have ruptured a gas main, leading to a small explosion. Gas engineers dug up part of the car park to switch off the gas.

Busy Durham Lane was closed in both directions throughout Saturday while firefighters tackled the blaze, then while they were damping down throughout the day.

Fire crews managed to get the blaze under control before it spread to a neighbouring Sainsbury’s Local store, the community centre, library, a Chinese takeaway and a barber shop. Residents of four flats above the Sainsbury's store had to be evacuated but their homes are believed to have escaped serious damage.

Police said they were initially treating the blaze as suspicious - at least until fire investigators have been able to examine the scene in detail.

Eaglescliffe councillors Maureen Rigg and Phil Dennis said the loss of the shops had left a community devastated.

As well as the shops which were destroyed when the fire broke out at 2am on Saturday, several more were smoke damaged, including Sainsbury’s.

Mowden Park Estates, the landlord, was unavailable for comment last night but company director Edward Yuill was on-site on Saturday assessing the damage. Stockton South MP James Wharton also visited the scene for about an hour on Saturday.

It is not known whether the shops, which were mostly independent, will be rebuilt but Coun Rigg said the pharmacy was looking at temporary premises.

She said: “Several of the shops that haven’t been destroyed are very badly smoke and water damaged.

“As I understand it the fire brigade cut away a section of roof in one of the shops to stop the fire spreading.”

She said that Jubilee celebrations planned for the community centre and the area outside the shops on June 2 would go ahead as planned. An exhibition and murder mystery play are taking place at the community centre and there is a Punch and Judy show and children’s games planned for the grassed area outside the shops.

“Even if we have to cover the blackened shop fronts with red, white and blue bunting, the Jubilee celebrations will go ahead,” she said.

“The community is rallying around and local people were offering to help scrub some of the shops clean at the weekend.”

Coun Dennis said Sainsbury’s was hoping to reopen on Tuesday. He said the community had been affected in many different ways, from the loss of livelihood to elderly people who relied on the pharmacy and launderette.