Faulty appliance sparks fire service call out to Hartlepool shopping centre

Firefighters were called to the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre in Victoria Road at 12.10am today to reports a shop was on fire.

When the two crews from Stranton Fire Station arrived, they discovered the incident was in the indoor market area of the complex.

It had caused heat damage to catering equipment, with a cooker left partly damaged.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Fire Brigade said: "The fire brigade isolated the supply and made the area safe."

The call out was brought to a conclusion by 12.45am.

The Mail understands an electrical fault lead to the call out.

The indoor market area does not open on a Sunday, with the centre expected to open at 10am today as per its normal hours, with the market section expected to welcome shoppers again tomorrow.

A post on its Facebook page said: "The fire brigade were called to a localised incident within the Market Hall which was resolved very quickly.

"A faulty electrical appliance created a localised incident which was resolved very quickly with limited damage.

"The centre and Market Hall are trading as per their published opening hours."