A ROUND the clock guard will be kept on shops and market stalls close to the fire-ravaged former Grand Cinema, Nelson, to keep looters away.

Police and private security guards will be there for at least five weeks until the stalls and shops can re-open. Scenes of crime and forensic experts are sifting through the rubble for clues to what started the blaze.

Ttraders have been told by Pendle Council they will have to wait until after the July holidays before the four-storey high, unsupported walls of the damaged building are demolished to first floor level to allow Market Street and neighbouring Cross Street market to re-open.

Around 60 traders gathered at Nelson Town Hall to hear how the council is dealing with the situation. Council services director John Kirk said plans to re-open access to some shops in Market Street and the town hall's main entrance had to be dropped when new cracks appeared in one of the damaged walls.

Tenders to demolish the walls to a safe height will go out in the next few days.

Principal building control officer Jim Cooper added: "We have allowed some people controlled access into their premises to remove valuables."

Mr Cooper said the building, which was turned into a nightclub after the cinema closed, did not have a sprinkler system but it did have a very sophisticated fire alarm and detection system. "It remains to be seen whether it went off," he added.

Traders are being offered alternative sites in the town centre to trade on a temporary basis.

Shopkeepers also stressed some shops in Market Street and in Cross Street and around the library are still open. Their trade has been hit because of access problems and because people assume they are closed.