A TEMPORARY pharmacy has been set up in Tiverton after a devastating fire ripped through the store this month.

The makeshift branch of Lloyds Pharmacy will open tomorrow (Thursday) in a portable cabin outside the gutted premises in Market Walk, which has been boarded up since the blaze destroyed thousands of pounds of stock on the evening of Saturday, February 16.

Customers can access prescriptions during the same opening hours as the original store - Monday to Friday, 9am - 6.30pm and Saturdays, 9am - 5pm - and a small range of essential pharmacy products will be on offer.

Work has commenced on a full refit of the store and an investigation is ongoing into the cause of the fire, although it is thought to be accidental.

Fire crews from Tiverton and Cullompton responded to the fire shortly before 6.30pm on the Saturday and found the building thick with black smoke.

Half the ground floor was severely damaged by fire and the other half suffered the affects of smoke damage, meaning a full shop floor refurbishment is needed.

No one was in the store at the time of the fire and no one outside was injured.

A spokesman for Lloyds Pharmacy said: “We would like to thank the Tiverton Town Council, the Primary Care Trust and the Market Walk landlord for supporting us in getting this temporary measure set up so speedily.

“Work has commenced on the refit of the affected pharmacy and we hope to re-open the store in the next six weeks.

“We would also like to thank all of our customers for their support and understanding during this period and we look forward to offering a great pharmacy experience from our new refurbished pharmacy.”