A TESCO Express branch that was damaged in a major fire has reopened after being rebuilt from the ground up.

The convenience store, on Carpenter's Down in Popley, was gutted by the blaze in March, which was caused by a freezer fault and saw 30 firefighters and eight fire engines called to the scene.

The shop was closed for ten weeks, and had to be completely refitted.

It reopened for the first time on Friday (May 28) morning.

Store manager Craig Mahon told The Gazette: “Everything was written off. Every piece of equipment had smoke damage.

Basingstoke Gazette: Popley's Tesco Express reopened on Friday for the first time since MarchPopley's Tesco Express reopened on Friday for the first time since March

"Everything was stripped back to a complete skeleton. Then it was all put back together.

“Without [convenience stores] over Covid it would have hurt people. We took the brunt of that. We kept our opening hours standard.”

The store was kitted out with equipment taken from Tesco's Nightingale store near Basingstoke hospital, which has recently closed after being set up to allow hospital workers to buy essentials on their way home from work.

Edward Smith, a care worker, was one of those doing his morning shop on Friday, and said: “I am so pleased to see the shop open again. It was a long two and a half months."

“The shop is very important to the community, so we are all delighted to be able to use it again,” another shopper said.

Basingstoke's fire station manager told the Gazette back in March that there was ‘significant damage’ to the store as a result of the fire, but that no one was hurt and nearby businesses unaffected.

Mr Mahon confirmed that the fire, caused by a refrigeration unit, had risen into the loft, causing damage to the cladding and parts of the ceiling to collapse.

Whilst the store was closed, employees worked at the three other Tesco Expresses in Basingstoke.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are pleased the store can reopen today and we can get back to serving our customers and community.

"Following the fire in March, the store was closed for ten weeks while it was rebuilt from the ground up.

"We apologise to our customers, who we know have missed us greatly, and we look forward to welcoming them back to the store.”

Tesco has confirmed it is conducting a full investigation into the incident, though has not yet released any further information.