THIRTY people have lost their jobs after a fire caused more than £1m of damage to a bakery.

Managers at Tindale and Stanton made the layoffs after the blaze destroyed the bread-making facility at Hobson Industrial Estate, Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham on February 10.

It took 30 firefighters to contain the fire and stop it spreading to a larger pie-making plant nearby, where a further 270 people are employed.

The bakery's financial director, David Walker, said: "It is unfortunate, but we have had to lay off staff.

"We hope to bring them back in the future, but there isn't anything for them to do at the minute."

Tindale and Stanton supplies thousands of corner shops and petrol stations across the North-East with pies, pasties and bread buns.

The blaze is believed to have broken out in an oven. Six fire crews, some using ladders, fought for three hours to stop the fire spreading.

Police closed the A692 - the main road from Consett to Gateshead - as acrid smoke poured across the road towards Hobson Golf Club.

Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade's operations manager, John Robson, said: "Fire personnel have worked very hard for several hours and have done a good job putting a water curtain up, which protected the rest of the factory."