Morden town centre was sealed off for almost five hours, plunging commuters into chaos, after a blaze at the back of a chemist's shop in London Road on Tuesday morning.

Four fire engines rushed to the scene at 3.15am after passers-by reported seeing flames billowing from the ground floor of Boots.

Morden Tube station was shut down and a 200-metre radius around the store was sealed off after fire fighters spotted three cylinders in the shop and feared they could explode.

Sub officer Barry Press from Green Watch, who spotted the cylinders, said: "It looked like a severe blaze.

"The ground floor was well alight and the flames were creeping up outside the building.

"I heard a hissing from the cylinders and because we didn't know what they contained, we assumed the worst case scenario. We moved the firefighters back to a safe position and evacuated the area.

"Fortunately the cylinders didn't contain gas, but we kept a hose on them to keep them cool."

The flats above the parade of shops were evacuated and traffic was brought to a standstill as roads and pavements remained closed while firefighters made the area safe.

Diana Homewood, who works atGreggs bakery, said: "I got into work at 5am and the fire was out but they were not letting anyone in because they were worried about the cylinders.

"It messed things up for us as we couldn't get our deliveries because the roads were closed off.

"We couldn't go into the shop so we just had to hang around outside until we were given the all clear which was after 8am. It was awful standing around, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Morden Tube station, which normally opens at 5.15am, remained closed and tube services up to Tooting Broadway were suspended until 7.30am because of the risk of an explosion.

A London Underground spokesman said: "We suspended the service as a safety precaution. We were alerted about the risk that the cylinders could explode and the fire could spread so we shut down the line."

The fire is being investigated, but at time of going to press, the cause was unknown.

A spokesman for Boots said: "We can confirm that this incident happened and we are co-operating fully with the police investigation that is taking place."

May 29, 2003 10:31