CHARRED piles of clothes and mattress springs are nearly all that remains of a makeshift camp which caught fire in central Newport on Sunday evening.

Firefighters and police were called out to a "tent" fire next to Usk Way shortly before 10pm.

People who had been playing at the nearby bingo hall watched on as the flames grew, with several loud bangs as items in the fire exploded.

The fire happened in a small alleyway behind the Masala Bazaar supermarket, where Granville Lane joins Usk Way.

Mo Ali, the shop manager, said nobody was hurt in the incident and there was no damage to his property, save for a large scorch mark on the outer wall.

South Wales Argus: Burned remains of a camp near Usk Way in Newport.Burned remains of a camp near Usk Way in Newport.

"I had a phone call from one of my mates - he'd driven past and then called me," Mr Ali said of the fire. "I was home at the time. I drove over quickly.

"I could see the fire from the bridge, it was absolutely chaotic."

Fortunately the fire brigade had started tackling the fire by the time Mr Ali arrived, and what he initially feared was a fire in his shop turned out to have been limited to the alleyway.

He said around "two or three" people had been gathering there after business hours in recent weeks, where they are partially hidden from Usk Way by a hedge.

Their camp had once contained furniture including chairs, mattresses and palettes fashioned into a homemade sofa.

South Wales Argus: Clothes and furniture were destroyed in the fire.Clothes and furniture were destroyed in the fire.

But little was left on Monday after the fire tore through the camp, also destroying clothes and other belongings. Breezeblocks had once been arranged to make a fire pit, but several of them appeared to have been broken in the fire.

Nobody was left at the camp on Monday.

Mr Ali said he had received lots of phone calls from worried customers, but the fire hadn't affected his business, and Masala Bazaar was able to resume trading as normal.