A BUSINESS was evacuated and nearby residents advised to stay in doors after an underground electrical box caught fire in a Birkenhead street.

Firefighters were called to an incident at the corner of Park Street and Cleveland Street at around 8.30am.

A cordon was set up around the area and both lanes of Cleveland Street were temporarily closed.

The incident was then handed over to engineers from energy suppliers Scottish Power, who started work on repairing the box.

Firefighters remained at the scene for around one hour and 35 minutes.

No-one was injured.

Among those evacuated was Chris Jordan, owner of Wirral Satelite Cars, who said that despite the temporary upheaval it was business as usual for his company.

He told the Globe: "At 8am some of my staff reported a small explosion and billowing black smoke coming out of a fusebox in the road.

"They immediately evacuated the building and called the fire brigade.

"Most of our electricity, with the exception of a small fuse main that is working, went off.

"A lot of businesses around have gone off as well.

"The fire brigade arrived within 10 minutes and ensured the building was safe.

"Scottish Power arrived and told everyone to evacuate.

"Emergency services and Scottish Power got here in good time and, most importantly, everyone is safe.

"Operationally, we invested in a lot of equipment and are now in the 'cloud' - so calls are being rooted to our satelite offices and services are normal, so it's business as usual for us.

"The road has been closed and hopefully we will be able to get back into the building tomorrow."