ALLEGATIONS have been made that customers at Ruxley Manor Garden Centre looted goods as staff tried to evacuate them after fire broke out.

The blaze engulfed a warehouse and the landscape garden area at the garden centre, in Maidstone Road, Sidcup, at around 2.30pm on Sunday.

But some staff said they were appalled that, while they were trying to usher customers out of the building to safety, some “chose to load their trolleys and steal everything they could.”

One staff member claimed: “Even elderly customers had trolleys of trees, shrubs and houseware and added sweets, cakes and jams on their way out, as there was no time to pay.

“There were some very rude people who would not leave their trolleys, even though they had not paid for the goods.”

Around 60 firefighters and 12 appliances were called to the scene and took four-and-a-half hours to put out the fire.

Smoke from the blaze could be seen for miles.

At one time a 300m exclusion zone was imposed for fear of exploding gas cannisters.

But the centre opened its doors for business as usual on Monday morning.

Centre director James Evans said on Monday: “Our over-riding concern yesterday was to evacuate the centre as quickly as possible but we will be reviewing all CCTV footage.

“Should this confirm any instances of shoplifting we will, of course, be working with the police to follow this up.”

All the customers and animals were evacuated without injury.

Mr Evans thanked the emergency services for bringing the situation under control so quickly.

He said the company would be working with the fire brigade to find the cause of the fire, but it is not thought to be suspicious.