Tesco shop fire in Glasgow causes £700k damage

A fire in a Tesco store in Glasgow started deliberately has caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. Picture: Getty

The blaze at the back of the Tesco store in Glasgow’s Shettleston area caused an electrical explosion and destroyed stock.

Police are investigating the fire, which was started in rubbish piled up against a fence in the area of Old Shettleston Road and Cockenzie Street yesterday afternoon.

Detective Sergeant Colin MacRitchie said: “Not only was the setting of this fire irresponsible, it was also very dangerous and could have caused serious injury.

“Thankfully on this occasion no-one was hurt; however, a number of homes in the area were without power for two hours as a result of this reckless act.

“The cost of the damage to Tesco runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds as there was substantial damage within the compound, to the electrical units and to stock.

“Our inquiries so far have established that there were a number of children - pupils from a nearby school - in the lane at the time as it was during their lunch break.

“It is possible they may have seen someone setting the fire or acting suspiciously in the area so I would appeal them to contact police with information that may help us with our inquiries.”