Crew in bid to trace cause of fire

Firefighters have requested plans showing the structure of a Shrewsbury restaurant destroyed by fire in a bid to discover the cause of the huge blaze.

The move comes after the building was ruled too unsafe for fire officers to get inside and investigate where the fire started.

Flames ripped through the roof of Pizza Hut on the Meole Brace retail park, causing thousands of pounds of damage yesterday.

Emergency services were called shortly before midday and it took five pumping appliances and the aerial ladder platform more than two hours to extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters left the scene at 2pm leaving three appliances at the restaurant until 9.30pm to damp down hot spots in the roof.

Fire service investigation officer John Griffiths said it was not safe to go in to examine the roof but that he did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.

Jon Wagstaff, fire service monitoring officer, said today: "The investigation officer John Griffiths has requested some plans of the building.

"He is confident the cause of the fire is not suspicious and fairly happy about where the fire has started, but it's difficult for him to get safe access to the area and there's not much left of it, to be frank.

"He needs drawings to show what services were in the area where he thinks the fire started."

West Mercia Police said today no decision had been made on whether an investigation into the blaze would be carried out by the force.

The restaurant employs 40 people, but had only just opened up for the day when the fire started.