Customers at the Tesco Extra store, in Burn Road, Hartlepool, had to abandon their groceries when large tiles, which one onlooker described as being around 6ft square, fell between the aisles.



The store, which is being extended, was closed following the incident at around 9am yesterday and cars going into the car park had to be diverted.

One customer was treated for shock after the partial collapse to the temporary ceiling led to the evacuation of the store.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "We are deeply concerned about what happened. I believe one customer was treated for shock but there were no further injuries.

"We had quite a few contractors on site so it was all in hand. It is being investigated."

Frightened customers told the Mail how they heard a "clattering" and had to leave their shopping to flee to safety.

Robert Allen, a pensioner from Hartlepool, was shopping with his wife when the incident happened. He said: "We were all down at the bottom where the delicatessen is going to be.

"We got to the check-out and the whole lot came down.

"The manager ran round shouting 'Everybody out! Everybody out!'

"We had to leave the shopping on the counter and the store was cleared in two minutes.

"My wife and I were pretty shaken up with it. We just ran. We looked down and it had all came down. The tiles were about 6ft square. We could have been under that."

Another shopper, a 59-year-old woman from the Fens estate, who did not want to be named, said: "It's a good job nobody was hurt. I just got through to the check-out and I heard this clatter but I didn't look back. It happened near the food aisles as far as I know.

"There were quite a few people in.

"I thought it was one of those large trolleys that stack the shelves falling over or something. I just carried on walking.

"I had got all my shopping but we were told to leave it and get out.
"We had to just dump our shopping. I wouldn't care but I had stuff in there I wanted for lunch."

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "A section of suspended ceiling dropped down near the deli counter but no one was injured. The latest we were given is that the store has contacted a structural engineer."