A CIGARETTE casually discarded is thought to have caused a major fire at the weekend.
Firefighters spent more than an hour tackling the flames and smoke at Morrisons store, in Ormesby Road, Middlesbrough, from about 1.40am on Saturday.
Up to 20 firefighters from Middlesbrough and Thornaby were needed to extinguish the blaze, which started in the storage area of the store.
"The fire was worse than it might have been because the stock was packed tightly together and covered in plastic wrapping," said a brigade spokesman.
"A dropped cigarette is a strong favourite for causing the fire. It could have smouldered for hours before anything ignited."
A spokesman for Morrisons said the damage had been cleared up and the store opened as normal on Saturday. Only a limited amount of stock was damaged
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