CHRISTMAS shoppers in Southampton were evacuated due to a fire yesterday.

The emergency services were called to a fire in a pizza oven at the Westquay centre.

The facility was evacuated, and Portland Terrace was closed off, as firefighters tackled the scene.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “Firefighters were called to a West Quay restaurant blaze at 11.17am.

“Southampton firefighters tackled a fire which began in a pizza oven in a West-Quay restaurant.

“Crews from St Mary’s, Cosham, Hightown, Eastleigh and Service Headquarters were called this morning (17 Dec) to reports of smoke coming from a vent at the shopping centre.

“The fire spread to the roof space via ducting and was extinguished using four sets of breathing apparatus, two jets and one stirrup pump.

“Hampshire Fire and Rescue worked with West Quay management to reopen the centre following a partial evacuation.

“Southampton Group Manager Dan Tasker said: “Crews worked extremely hard to bring the fire under control and quickly extinguish it. We then worked alongside West-Quay management to ensure the centre was safe to reopen for their staff and customers.”

“The stop message came in at 12:40pm.”

A Westquay spokesperson said: “The Fire Service attended the centre earlier today to tackle a small fire in one unit, which has now been safely extinguished.

A spokesperson for South Central Ambulance Service said: "We were contacted by Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service at 11:20 this morning and asked to support them at in incident they were dealing with at West Quay Shopping Centre.

"We sent our full Hazardous Area Response Team, a paramedic team leader in a rapid response vehicle and a Tactical Advisor.

"Fortunately no firefighters or members of the public needed medical attention and we were stood down once HFRS had the fire under control."

“While this was ongoing a small section of the centre was temporarily evacuated.

“All of the centre is now fully open as normal, apart from the unit where the fire happened.”

One shopper, Linda Caine, said: “We were in there (Westquay North) and heard a load of bells and whistles going off and we came outside.

“Now we want to get to our car to pick our daughter up from the Royal South Hants and obviously we can’t get into the car park.

“Apparently it was a fire in the restaurant area, possibly a pizza place.”

Another shopper said: “I Just heard the alarms go off. I didn’t know how to get out but managed to in the end.

“Everyone was rushing and trying to get to the entrance."