CHILDREN playing with fireworks could be the cause of a blaze that gutted a high street shop.

Firefighters worked through the night to tackle the inferno, which threatened the shopping street in Malton, North Yorkshire, in the early hours of Thursday.

The fire started at Dales the florist and spread to the neighbouring greengrocers.

Crews from Malton, York, Sherburn and Pickering were called out and it took 35 officers almost three and a half hours to bring the blaze under control.

Tony Dyer, assistant divisional officer for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said the situation could have been much worse had the firefighters' strikes gone ahead.

"Obviously we will never know for sure, but the reserves the Army have would have been woefully inadequate. The fire would almost certainly have spread to further properties. It would have been a much worse tragedy than it already is," he said.

The proposed strike, which was due to start at 9am on Tuesday and finish at 9am yesterday, was postponed amid talks between the Fire Brigades Union and employers.

The cause of the fire at Malton is not yet known. One possible cause is an oil-fired heater, although children were known to be playing with fireworks behind the premises and it is feared they triggered the blaze.

"A number of children were seen running away from the rear of the building before the fire and we did find a number of spent fireworks at the rear, so that has certainly not been ruled out," said Mr Dyer.

A fire service spokesman said: "Playing with fireworks is extremely dangerous and it must be stopped before someone gets seriously hurt.

"This is an example of the type of damage that can be expected when a seemingly harmless prank goes horribly wrong."