By Lars Niven

THE CENTRE of Cowdenbeath had to be closed off for most of yesterday morning after an electrical cable caught fire.

The blaze was discovered to the rear of the New Goth pub on the High Street by a passer-by at about 7.30 am.

Firefighters and the police were on the scene within a matter of minutes and sealed the area off.

Officers were concerned that the fire could cause a nearby gas pipe to explode.

A stretch of the High Street was completely shut down and no pedestrians or vehicles were allowed through.

Power company engineers were brought in to isolate the cable and make the area safe.

The closure caused major disruption for several businesses in the area and for drivers heading through the centre of the town.

No one was injured in the incident.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Power said last night that the fire was connected to problems customers experienced in the area earlier this week.

Fuses had to be replaced at the electricity sub-station, but engineers were unable to trace the fault that caused them to blow.

However, she added that yesterday’s incident had led them to the fault.

“There was a smouldering cable at 21 High Street and we are carrying out a repair to that cable,” she said.

“We apologise to our customers who were affected, but everything was done to keep the disruption to a minimum.”

The High Street was finally reopened just after midday.