WORKERS were evacuated and a retail park was sealed off for more than three hours as firefighters dealt with a fire at Banbury's Kraft factory yesterday.

Emergency services were called after a portable acetylene cylinder caught fire in a disused part of the factory.

Kraft's spokesman Jonathan Horrell said: "The incident was in the area previously used for the manufacture of desserts, which we no longer make in Banbury.

"Contractors were in there carrying out some alterations. Because of the risk of an explosion our emergency procedures were activated and the factory was evacuated. No one was injured, and the police cordoned off the area as a precaution, but there was no explosion."

Road closures led to some traffic delays in Southam Road and Warwick Road after the fire broke out just after 11am.

Police set up a 200-yard cordon as a safety measure.

Hundreds of shoppers in neighbouring Tesco's and the nearby Banbury Cross Retail Park were prevented from leaving and queues built up in the exit roads.

Most cars were empty as drivers returned to the shops waiting for the all clear - which came at 2.30pm.

A Tesco spokesman said then: "The lock-in is over. Traffic is being allowed to leave via Ruscote Avenue and Southam Road."

Just before the re-opening one driver, Banbury builder Dennis Day, said: "It's a nuisance being stuck here, but it is better to be safe than sorry. You never know what might happen, and we have to rely on the judgement of the police and firefighters.

"It might be worth making an emergency exit on to Southam Road for emergencies such as this.

"With only one way out of this shopping complex, there's always the danger this could happen again. Another exit that is closed off except in exceptional circumstances would solve the problem."

At the height of the scare, Ruscote Avenue between Longelandes way and Southam Road was closed, and Beaumont Road was also shut off.

Southam Road and Hennef Way remained open. Worst affected was the Warwick Road, where long queues built up at the North Bar/Southam Road traffic lights.