Staff forced to flee fire at Shrewsbury bookmakers
Staff and customers at a bookmakers in Shrewsbury were forced to flee after a fire broke out causing smoke to billow from the building.
The drama unfolded yesterday afternoon in the William Hill bookmakers in Horsefair, Abbey Foregate. A spokesperson for Shropshire Fire and Rescue said the fire started in a vending machine. Fire crews from Telford and Shrewsbury were called to the scene just before midday yesterday.
The fire was out on their arrival.
They found that smoke billowed from the machine, causing staff to evacuate everyone who was inside the building.
Bosses at the bookmakers had used a fire extinguisher to deal with the flames.
Gareth Walker, from Telford Fire Station, said: "When the vending machine started issuing smoke staff evacuated everyone inside.
"There were not many people involved and no one was injured.
"The incident was dealt with very quickly and we only inspected the scene," he added.
No-one was available to comment on the incident from the bookmakers this morning.
But Michelle Cashion, from the William Hill bookmakers in Coleham, said she heard about the drama on Facebook.
She said: "I wasn't in work at the weekend but I heard about it on Facebook. It was a new member of staff that was working there when it happened.
"We never shut so I'm sure they will be back up and running today," she added.
