King's Lynn Sainsbury's superstore evacuated following fire

Smoke was seen billowing from the fire at the supermarket in King's Lynn

A supermarket on the outskirts of King's Lynn has been shut after a fire broke out and spread behind cladding in the building.

Customers and staff at the Sainsbury's superstore on the Hardwick Industrial Estate were led to safety after a passer-by raised the alarm at about 17:50 BST on Saturday.

Some cladding covering the building had to be removed to tackle the blaze.

No-one was injured, the supermarket said.

Fire crews from King's Lynn, Great Massingham, Hunstanton, and Downham Market were assisted by two crews from Cambridgeshire and one from Lincolnshire.

Staff and customers were evacuated from the store on Saturday night

At the height of the blaze, flames and smoke could be seen billowing from the side of the building but firefighters managed to prevent it spreading into the main part of the store.

General manager David Copeland, from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are unsure at this point of how the fire started but it did get behind the cladding which covers the Sainsbury's building so we had to had to remove a lot of that material to make sure here was no concealed fire spread."

He said there was "a significant amount of smoke damage internally".

Mr Copeland praised Sainsbury's staff for making sure everyone was out of the store as quickly as possible, which he said had helped the fire-fighting operation.

Investigations into the cause are under way and it is not known when the store will reopen.

Sainsbury's said no-one was injured

Sainsbury's opened the superstore in November 2011, and hailed it as its most eco-friendly building.

It has ground source heat pumps, the roof is covered with solar panels and it is highly insulated. It is regarded as one of its flagship stores in the eastern region.

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "No customers or colleagues were injured. We're working with the emergency services and our engineers to ensure the store is safe for reopening."