Caerphilly County Borough Council has been supporting the emergency services overnight dealing with a large fire at the Poundstretcher store in Blackwood.
The High Street remains closed to all traffic and bus diversions are in place, although the town’s main bus station is open as normal. Between Woodbine Road and The Market Place, the road is completely closed to vehicles and pedestrians due to the structure of the Poundstretcher building being unsafe. This full closure affects approximately ten shops.
As the store itself has been extensively damaged by fire, the Council’s Building Control officers are currently on site assessing the situation. It is anticipated that part or the whole structure will need to be demolished and this process will start today with a demolition contractor now on site. The Council recognises that the High Street is an integral part of the community of Blackwood and that the closure adversely affects local businesses, therefore the demolition of the building will continue overnight in order to enable the road to open again at the earliest opportunity.
Boots remains open for home prescription deliveries and Mayberry Pharmacy is open offering a full service to customers.
Either side of the full road closure by Poundstretcher, businesses have opened and are trading as normal. The council in conjunction with the police will be working to facilitate early morning deliveries on High Street should a closure still be in place on Thursday.
As one of the largest stores on the High Street, the council has said it is mindful that a number of jobs have been affected by the store closure.