FALLOUT from the massive inferno that ripped through a giant warehouse forced shops in a Hampshire town centre to close after staff complained of feeling sick.

A heavy smog hung over Eastleigh more than 24 hours after the huge blaze which destroyed Import Services Contract Logisitics (UK) Ltd's nearby base.

Council health chiefs are confident the smoke contains no harmful chemicals.

But some traders and businesses decided to shut up shop yesterday after staff complained of headaches because of the fumes.

High Street hairdressers' salon Charlie Girl closed early in the afternoon, cancelling a dozen bookings.

Owner June Greening said: "My staff have been feeling sick and getting headaches after breathing in the fumes and my chest has been sore.

"The smoke has been getting progressively worse and at one point you could not see across the road."

Mrs Greening hoped that conditions would improve so they could resume normal business today.

Traders at the town's Thursday market also decided to pack up their stalls early. Trader Steve Webb said: "It has been like a dense smog and has been on and off but it has kept people away. People have been covering up their faces because of the smoke."

In a statement issued last night, Eastleigh Council said that automatic monitoring equipment was showing no harmful readings.

Meanwhile special airlifts from the Far East were under way to replace the Christmas toys destroyed in one of Hampshire's biggest fires.

Ten tonnes of Play-Doh and half a million Sylvanian Families figures, worth about £5m, were destroyed in the blaze at the Tower Lane Industrial Estate.