CUSTOMERS fled from a Southampton chip shop after flames engulfed the store in minutes.

Staff and tenants ran out of the building after thick black smoke started pouring from the smashed and windows and doors.

Firefighters raced to the scene after the blaze took hold of Small Fry fish and chips, with emergency services closing off Lodge Road.

Crews took four minutes to respond as witnesses described community members banging on the door of the tenants above the shop.

All people were accounted for when the fire service arrived shortly after 12.30pm yesterday.

Bholesh Kakiya has owned the building for 15 years, and said that nothing else could have been done.

Bholesh, 43, said: “You can’t reverse time, so what can you do? My staff called the fire department and customers had to evacuate the building. I wasn’t there at the time and when I was called, I thought it might be a small kitchen fire.

“I was shocked to see three engines here, I’m pretty sure it was a cooker but I wasn’t here to see. It’s such a tight community around here and my staff did all they could for the customers.

“I’ve owned the building for 15 years and the manager Richard Gillespie has been here for three years. We need to reopen soon, I hope it won’t be too long, maybe a month or so but it’s quite early to tell.”

Incident commander and watch manager Sean Foster said: “We were called at 12.40pm to a severe fire at the chip shop, there were flames and a lot of thick black smoke which was caused by the oil and fat.

“It was great work by the crew to get this under control and it was out by 1.10pm at the latest. The staff did a good job by turning off everything and they evacuated the customers out and the tenants left too.

“All persons were accounted for on arrival and we used six breathing apparatus and one jet.”

One member of staff who didn’t want to be named said: “It went up in a minute-and-a-half, it was so quick and everyone just had to get out. You could really smell the smoke and everything was black.”

Sammy Sharif, a witnesses who lives across the street, said he saw passers-by banging on the door of the tenants who live above the shop.

Sammy, 23, said: “I was quite shocked to see the flames, but most of what you could see was just the smoke. I had just been at the shop and when I was walking home, there was nothing.

“I started making some food and I heard a shout that the shop was on fire. The staff and manager are all so friendly, I hope it’s not long that they’re closed.”