THIS picture shows the devastation left in the wake of a blaze which ripped through a Southampton store.

The store was left charred and burned out by the intense flames from the fire.

It had just undergone a major refurbishment and hadn't even opened to the public yet.

Emergency services fought the fire which broke out in the first floor flat above Groceries Lanka Xpress Off License, in Shirley High Street.

Firefighters battled to bring the inferno under control for four hours, until about 12.20am yesterday, while worried residents watched the flames wreck the shop.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service officers have now launched an investigation into the cause of the fire but believed the most likely cause was an electrical fault in the lighting circuits in the roof of the shop.

The Daily Echo attempted to contact the owner of the store, which specialised in Indian, Filipino, Sri Lankan and Organic food, but he was unavailable for a comment.

Brandon Howells, of Mayflower Road, watched the drama unfold.

He said: "There were four fire engines coming down the road and everyone was screaming and shouting.

"I went outside to see what was going on and there were around 30 firemen just running down the street.

"All anyone wanted was to make sure there was no one in the building.

"There was quite a lot of smoke. They had to make sure the fire didn't spread because if it did they would have had to ask us to leave our houses.”

Eight engines, support vehicles and dozens of firefighters, from Redbridge, St Mary's, Eastleigh, Hightown, Romsey, Botley, Portchester and Eastleigh headquarters, attended the fire which saw the High Street closed off during the incident.

Sarah Jane Wynn, 28, who could see the incident from her house, said she was with her daughter watching television when she heard the fire engines.

"It went on for a while so I looked out and saw two fire engines standing there. There was lots of smoke and a lot of fire engines so you could tell it was quite severe," she added.

"I thought it was best to stay in and out of the way, but we watched from the window.

"My initial concern was if it was one of those flats then someone may have been hurt. Thank god no one was hurt."

Patrick Moody, 70, who has lived in Mayflower Road for 41 years, said: "Everywhere was in smoke so I didn't know what building it was coming from.

"This road has had everything happen in it, all sorts, from the good things to the bad things and the disasters. To me it is just another small disaster that has come our way."

Lesley Sivyour, 83, said: “ I walked down to have a look this morning and it has been gutted. All the shutters have been ripped out.”

Bernie Carroll, 52, witnessed the incident also. He said the first thing he saw was two firemen on the arm of the engine which was across and above the building.

“There weren't flames roaring from the roof just lots of smoke coming through where the damage is in the roof," he added.

A spokesperson from Hampshire fire and rescue said the low level investigation has revealed there were no suspicious circumstances and that the fire was "most likely caused by an electrical fault in lighting circuits in the roof."