Smoke filled a Machynlleth shop this week due to a faulty alarm system.

The Fire and Rescue Service was called on Thursday 28 August after intruder alarms went off in the Spar shop on Heol Maengwyn.

Manager Dave said the alarms were triggered by a fault, which caused smoke to be emitted in the backroom and at the tills.

“No one could see in front of them” due to the ‘smoke blankets’ which were triggered in the late morning at the Spar, which also houses the town post office and a Greggs bakery.

The staff were evacuated and an engine from Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene, but no one was hurt.

The shop was reopened to customers at around 1pm the same day.

Smoke blankets or smoke cloaks are anti-theft systems installed in businesses to reduce property loss during a break-in by obscuring the intruder's vision with a cloud of smoke or ‘fog’.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 12.09pm on Thursday 28 August, the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service crew from Machynlleth Fire Station was called to an incident at Maengwyn Street in Machynlleth.

“The crew responded to a two-storey commercial property which was smoke-logged, caused by an intruder alarm system fault.

“Crew members utilised two breathing apparatus sets, one thermal imaging camera and one positive pressure ventilation fan at the premises.

“No further action was required by crew members and they left the scene at 12.57am.”

This is not the first time fire engines were called out to Machynlleth that week - the previous Friday 22 August, two terraced houses suffered from an accidental fire which caused the roof to collapse on both properties.

The fire service believes the fire was caused by a “faulty log burner”.