A TOTAL of 50 fire fighters worked for more than ten hours to tackle a blaze at an Eden supermarket last night.

Morrison’s supermarket at Penrith was almost destroyed when fire broke out in the roof area at around 5.45pm.

No one was injured.

Fire fighters from stations at Shap, Appleby, Patterdale, Keswick, Barrow, Carlisle, Penrith and Lazonby raced to the town centre store on Brunswick Road.

Residents on Elm Terrace were evacuated from their homes while Brunswick Road and the Mill Street roundabout were closed to all traffic.

The fire is though to have started at the pharmacy end of the store.

Local residents reported that the flames spread across the building within an hour as thick black smoke billowed out across the town.

Adam Carroll, 20, is a student at the University of Cumbria’s Newton Rigg campus.

“It was pretty spectacular,” he said. “It looked like it was totally destroyed.

"Unfortunately I was supposed to be working there over the Christmas period but I’ll have to find another job now.”

Fire crews returned to their stations at around 4.50am this morning.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue is currently investigating the cause of the fire.