FIVE outlets at Bicester Village remain closed this morning after Carluccio’s was engulfed in flames yesterday.

The Village was evacuated and did not reopen until 1pm after yesterday's blaze ripped through the Italian restaurant.

Kurt Geiger, Dior Homme, Loewe, Coccinelle and Carluccio’s itself are all still closed.

Bicester Village spokewoman Sophie Hedley said: "Customers have been incredibly understanding and we were able to get up and running again with relative ease.

"We hope other stores will open fairly quickly in the forcible."

She added: "They [the four surrounding stores] are simply closed to sort out and secure the area."

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Owen Morton said the investigation into the fire was ongoing. He added that one fire engine is still at the scene to help with this.

Yesterday's fire spread across the top floor and roof of Carluccio’s, according to the fire service.

The shopping outlet was shut after the blaze broke out at about 8.40am at the Italian restaurant, causing smoke to billow across the complex.

Firefighters remained on site, removing roofing tiles to ensure the fire was fully extinguished.

Grahame Mitchell, the group manager at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said firefighters were alerted by a member of staff at the outlet village and it proved crucial to containing the blaze within the Italian restaurant.

The roof was badly affected but the majority of the damage was external rather than internal, the Oxford Mail understands.

Mr Mitchell said: "The first call came at 8.41am and within eight minutes we had about 40 firefighters here and that early intervention has managed to contain the fire to the roof.

"The fire was contained to Carluccio's and it was that excellent firefighting that stopped the spread to other units within the village."

He added that it was too early to say what caused the fire but he did confirm it may have started outside the building rather inside.

Mr Mitchell would not be drawn any further but said there was a fire investigator at the site and he added: "We are working with site staff and we have excellent CCTV."

No one was injured and Mr Mitchell said: "The first call came from a member of staff in the staff room here and it was an excellent, quick call. It was important they did a fast evacuation so that no one was put at risk at any time."

Seven fire applicances, including the hydraulic platform, were called to the scene. That included help from neighbouring Buckinghamshire, Mr Mitchell said.

Bicester Village spokeswoman Miranda Markham said: "Bicester Village would like to express its sincere gratitude to both the police and fire services for their prompt and efficient handling of the situation."

South Central Ambulance spokeswoman Gill Hodgetts said staff attended the incident at the designer shopping outlet but no one was hurt.

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