Motorists faced traffic chaos in Shrewsbury today after main roads in the town centre were closed off when a fire broke out at the site of the town’s new year explosion.

Emergency services were called to Smithfield Road to deal with the blaze, believed to have been caused by a spark from machinery which set insulation alight in the remains of the building at about 12.10pm.

The Welsh Bridge and one lane of Barker Street were closed to stop people going onto Smithfield Road and motorists were also being stopped from going over the English Bridge as a result of the fire, while Shrewsbury Hotel next to the site was also evacuated.

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Carl Huntley, from Base Architecture which is dealing with the demolition under way on the explosion site, said: “We were cutting steel on the first floor. A spark flew and caught on some old insulation. The flames were quite big but the fire wasn’t that bad.”

Andy Johnson, area manager with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said four crews and an incident commander were called to deal with the fire, which was dealt with by 1pm, when roads in the area around the site reopened.

He said: “It was materials on the site related to the explosion. It was a fire in the footprint of the building involved in the explosion.

“The fire has been effectively dealt with. It was thick black smoke when the crews arrived but they have dealt with the fire.”

He said the fire had been quite significant and there was concern that cylinders on the site could have been affected, but the fire did not involve these.

Witnesses said they were frightened by what they saw today.

Claire Poole, from John Poole Photography in Hills Lane next to the site alerted the fire service.

She said: “I was very shaken up. I came outside of the building and the flames were licking the side of our store.

“I thought our roof was on fire.”

Katie Mason, co-owner of Parlour a health and beauty salon, said: “We are just so lucky. The fire service were excellent. They were here within minutes to put the flames out. It was very frightening.”

A spokeswoman for Morris Lubricants, which was damaged by the explosion at the corner of Smithfield Road and Bridge Street on January 3, said workers on the first floor of the building had seen smoke but did not know what was going on. None of the workers were evacuated.