FIRE crews spent almost two hours trying to locate a blaze in the Kingfisher Centre in the early hours of yesterday.

Fibre boarding between walls caught fire in a part of the centre above Royal Square.

And it was not the first time firefighters have been called to the centre during its £60 million refurbishment.

Now the fire brigade is to hold talks with centre management to discuss procedures in an attempt to stop such an incident happening again.

Bromsgrove station officer Keith Gregory, who was at the scene, said it was a difficult job as the actual fire took two hours to find.

He said: "The fire filled the offices with smoke and it took a long time to find the fire.

''We were there for three hours. There were two crews from Redditch and the hydraulic platform from Bromsgrove."

He added: "The fire could have spread to other areas because it was difficult to find. It smoke- logged a few offices."

Kingfisher centre management confirmed a fire had been reported close to where contractors had been working during the day.

Phil Berry, of centre management, said yesterday: "The fire was a localised incident and was a consequence of works carried out during the previous day and although regular safety checks were being carried out, a small ignition did occur early this morning."

The fire brigade visited the centre before it opened yesterday to ensure there was no risk of a recurrence.

The contractors had also previously conducted safety checks and reported no signs of potential hazards.

The town centre traded as normal.