A WORKER was hailed as a hero last night after an explosion forced the evacuation of a busy indoor market.

Dozens of people fled choking fumes at the Clifford Centre Family Indoor Market, in Stanley, County Durham, but brave Robert Dunn stayed behind.

Mr Dunn knew there were gas cyclinders on the premises and, after grabbing the market's hosepipe, sprayed them to keep them cool.

When firefighters arrived Mr Dunn, of the nearby village of No Place, still wanted to help and had to be dragged from the scene and given oxygen, before being taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Last night, firefighters praised his courageous actions for managing to confine the blaze to the unit he was working in - and possibly preventing a disaster.

Emergency services had to throw up an exclusion zone area amid fears of an even bigger explosion from an unstable acetylene gas cylinder.

The cordon led to several surrounding businesses being evacuated. The busy A693 was closed for more than three hours.

The drama began at about 9.50am, when an explosion was heard at a unit used for repairing fridge freezers, washing machines and cookers.

Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue spokesman Les Greenwood said: "When the explosion happened the premises were evacuated except for one stall worker who got out the building's fire hose. It was very brave of him.

"He did all the right things. He managed to confine the fire for as long as he possibly could. But when the fire brigade arrived it was getting too much and he had to be physically dragged out. It was getting quite dangerous."

Mr Greenwood said firefighters had given Mr Dunn oxygen, before he was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, to be treated for smoke inhalation.

He said that when three gas cylinders were discovered a 100m cordon was put up as a precautionary measure. One cylinder was established to contained acetylene.

Mr Greenwood said: "We had to treat it as an unexploded bomb. If it had gone off, it could have been catastrophic."

The cause of the fire is being investigated.