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

Managers at Tindale and Stanton took the decision after the blaze destroyed the bread bun making facility at Hobson Industrial Estate at Burnopfield, near Stanley.

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

People whose livelihoods have been affected by the blaze include bakers, cleaners and labourers.

Financial director David Walker: "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. Those that are laid off are not very happy but for everyone else it is business as usual."

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

They are currently relying on fellow bakers to supply their customers.

The blaze is believed to have broken out at about 2pm last Thursday in an oven.

All staff were safely evacuated after a security guard raised the alarm.

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.

Mr Walker, said: "There has been a problem in an oven, exactly what we are not sure, but it has caught fire.

"We are trying to carry on but with the best will in the world we can't offer the same range we used to.

"We would like to ask our customers to bear with us."

Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade's operations manager John Robson said the damage could have been significantly worse.

He 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, and the firm did a good job getting people out."