ONE of the area's busiest shopping centres was back open for business on Tuesday after almost a week of major disruption.

The St Nicholas Arcade, in the heart of Lancaster, was shut on Friday after glass started falling from the roof.

Part of the centre re-opened on Saturday, a little more on Monday and the rest yesterday - but only after safety netting was installed under the roof.

"There was major disruption on Friday but it eased progressively over the weekend," says centre manager Gerry North.

"And we are working on identifying what caused the problem in the first place."

Lancaster City Council's building control service has advised St Nicholas Arcade on the appropriate steps to take, and the centre was voluntarily closed by its management.

Those precautions included large blue nets being placed under the roof in case any more glass fell.

"There was never a real chance of a glass panel falling," adds Mr North. "It is all safety glass and is designed to shatter rather than fall in one large lump.

"But obviously it is not very pleasant for someone to be in the arcade if glass is falling around them.

"We are not sure what caused the problem - but we have sent glass fragments off to experts in Sheffield to be analysed."

A spokesman for Argos, whose Lancaster store is in the St Nicholas Arcade, says: "We had the disruption for three days but there is little that can be done when there is a problem in the roof.

"We cannot comment further at this stage about whether we would look for compensation."