RETAIL staff and eye witnesses described their shock as the fire spread and businesses were evacuated.

David McKenna, who is employed by The Works said: “I arrived at 8.30am and thought it might have occurred in a shop. The police then came in and evacuated everyone.

“By 9.20am it had started to spread outside the building. I’ve never seen anything as bad as this before.

“Someone from Holland and Barrett was in early and heard a bang and was absolutely terrified.”

One man, who arrived at the scene, shortly after 9am, said: “It was terrifying how quickly it spread.

“You could see flames shooting out of the building. It’s a blessing no one was hurt.”

Kimberly Gillies, said: “It’s bad really bad you can’t see your hand in front of your face

“So much admiration for our fire fighters what a fantastic job they do.

“Had to walk through the smoke to get home. It was so hard still tasting it in my mouth.”

A Ryman’s shop worker, Jay Matheson, told the Evening Times his team had initially closed their store when they realised the severity of the fire.

However, their hopes of re-opening were dashed when a police officer told them they must evacuate.

He said: “The police came and told us just to completely leave.

“They’ve not really said much about [when the shop will be allowed to reopen].

“It’s a bit crazy. You don’t normally see that every morning when you walk into work. It’s been a bit shocking.”