A RELUCTANT hero who tried to fight a fire at Sainsbury's in Calne last week has remained modest about his effort to extinguish the fire that caused thousands of pounds of damage and shut the store for three days.

The store worker grabbed an extinguisher and stayed behind to tackle the fire while colleagues evacuated the smoke-filled store but had to eventually abandon his efforts. He has declined to be named.

Firefighters were called to the supermarket in The Pippin at around 8pm on Thursday after an electrical fault sparked a fire inside the cigarette kiosk.

One fire engine from Calne and two from Chippenham attended.

The fire was put out a few minutes after fire crews arrived but the building was so badly damaged by smoke that fresh fruit and vegetables had to be thrown away. John Trotman of Trotman's hardware store opposite Sainsbury's saw the incident unfold as he walked home.

Mr Trotman, who lives in The Pippin, said: "The shop was just filled with smoke and I saw the fire engines gathered outside.

"All the food was being thrown out, it was a terrible waste and quite dramatic."

Fire crew manager Steve Lodge said: "The fire was out minutes after our arrival but the building was quite heavily smoke logged and so took a while to clear."

Firefighters left at 10pm after using breathing apparatus and pumps to dispel the smoke.

On Friday morning two Sainsbury's workers stood guard outside the store preventing shoppers from crossing the cordon and explaining what had happened.

At the weekend the company provided half-hourly buses to run shoppers from Calne to the nearby Chippenham store. Staff spent the weekend cleaning and restocking the store ready to reopen on Monday.

The kiosk has been boarded up ready for refurbishment and a temporary cigarette and magazine stand has been placed in the entrance to the store.

Store manager Nick Langridge said: "We are very grateful to the fire crews and to all colleagues at the store whose hard work has meant we were able to open the store on Monday.Our customers have also been very understanding through the temporary disruption."