SHOPS and businesses in Sauchiehall Street are still waiting to find out how bad the damage to their premises is after the fire dealt a “devastating blow”.

Neighbouring shops, restaurants and pubs including Victoria’s nightclub, the New City Palace restaurant, Lauders and Holland and Barrett were all affected by the blaze and staff safely evacuated.

Lewis Ramsay, Assistant Chief Officer of Scottish Fire and Rescue, said the recovery process would be complex due to the design of the ageing buildings.

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stuart Patrick said: “This is obviously a devastating blow to businesses in Sauchiehall Street, and we extend our sympathies to all those affected.

“There will be consequences to consider in the aftermath of the fire, but at the moment we should be thankful there seems to have been no casualties, and offer our support to the emergency services staff who are fighting to contain the blaze and limit damage.”

Specsavers said all customers with eye appointments had been relocated to the Trongate branch.

A spokeswoman said: “The premises was evacuated safely and no staff or customers have been hurt.

“The store will remain closed until further notice. Customers are currently being redirected to the nearby Trongate store.”

Holland & Barrett added: “All our staff are fine and accounted for. We don’t know anything about fire damage yet or when we will be able to re-open.

“The fire seemed to be directly above the shop”

Lauders pub said there would be “heavy safety precautions” to consider, before they could re-open.

Glasgow City Council said building control would be working with a number of agencies including the roads department to coordinate the local authority’s response to one of the city’s worst every fires.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “It’s difficult to put a timescale on it and obviously depends on how long it takes to contain the fire and make the areas safe.

“When the art school fire happened, it took around two days.

“Building control will be working with all the various agencies.

“There are road closures in place around the city centre and they may have to be extended.

“There is the issues of making sure the street is safe for the public.”

Meanwhile, the city ground to a halt with major roads closed and a number of buses diverted away from the scene.

The cordon around the blaze was gradually increased throughout the day, with police citing “public safety” as their top priority.

Sauchiehall Street was closed between Blythswood Street and Buchanan Street, Renfrew Street was shut between its junction with Cambridge Street and its junction with West Nile Street and Port Dundas.

Hope Street was also closed between its junction with Bath Street and Cowcaddens Road, while Renfield Street between its junction with Bath Street and Cowcaddens Road and West Nile Street between its junction with Renfrew Street and Bath Street.

First Bus Glasgow was forced to put diversions in place for busy bus services B10, 18, 240, 255, 263 and 267 while major streets were also out of operation.

Head of operations, John Gorman said: “First Glasgow are working hard to ensure there is a minimise disruption to customers along all of our city centre routes. Unfortunately, the police diversion put in place on Sauchiehall Street means that all services in and out of the city are affected.

“These are public safety measures put in place by the emergency services dealing with the incident, but I would like to thank customers for their patience during this time.”