A MAJOR chemical alert was sparked at a DIY store as staff and customers were overcome by fumes.

The B&Q store in Station Road, Belvedere, was eventually evacuated last Friday lunchtime as more and more people complained of nausea, headaches, sore throats and streaming eyes.

Nine fire crews from across the area raced to the site and cordoned off the store and its car park, as people affected by the fumes were treated by London Ambulance Service staff at the scene.

Firefighters dressed in chemical suits and with breathing apparatus used specialist equipment to try and track down the source of the chemical.

The incident commander, Adrian Atmore, from Erith fire station, said staff began experiencing problems from around 9.30am.

He told News Shopper: "Reports were made to the store managers who searched the store but could not find the cause of the problem.

"At about noon, the store called in the fire brigade and everyone was evacuated."

The staff waited in The Belvedere pub opposite the store.

Inspector Joe Moohan from Bexleyheath police station said the incident was not being treated as suspicious.

He said it had not been necessary to close off any of the neighbouring roads, although people slowing down because of fire hoses stretched across the road caused some traffic problems in the area.

Insp Moohan said police had checked with a nearby nursery and neighbouring factories but no-one outside the B&Q site complained of being affected.

One customer, who had been in the store last Friday morning, said: "I could no longer stand the smell. I went home and was so sick."

After several hours, firefighters were only able to detect a very low level of an unidentified chemical.

A spokesman for the company said the fire brigade gave the all-clear for people to re-enter the building last Friday evening.

She said: "The smell dissipated while it was being monitored by the fire brigade.

"The cause of it was not identified and nor was it established whether it came from inside or outside the building."

The company said, as a precaution, it kept the store closed last Saturday morning to allow firefighters to make a second check of the store but nothing was found.

It reopened again to the public last Saturday afternoon.