Grocers ‘helpless’ after £30,000 blaze
OWNERS of a fruit and veg stall fear they could lose their livelihood for good after it was gutted in a fire caused by sub-contractors.
The blaze ripped through the Marketfresh stall at Rawtenstall Market - causing an estimated £30,000 in damage, destroying stock and equipment on July 18.
Speaking to the Free Press this week, devastated Pete and Diane Camm, of Dean Road in Helmshore, say they have encountered a series of obstacles after helplessly watching their business, which has now been demolished, go up in smoke.
The fire started after sub-contractors working for a firm employed by Rossendale council were burning lines onto a neighbouring car park using a heat torch, as we reported last week.
The grocers, who have been in business for nearly two decades, claim that the council are ‘dragging their feet’ in helping find them an alternative premises.
They say they are also having to claim against the sub-contractors’ insurance as they were unable to find a company willing to cover them.
After being allowed on to the site for the first time since the fire last week Pete and Diane surveyed the extent of the damage.
Diane, 54, said: “It’s even worse than we thought - it’s totally destroyed.
“We couldn’t get insurance - they weren’t interested because, to them, it’s just a wooden hut.
“We’re in limbo and the council are dragging their feet. We’ve been advised to hire a solicitor but they are asking for £1,000 up front. Why can’t the council’s legal team just help us?”
The pair left the stall around ten minutes before it caught fire, having stocked it fully. They then returned to the market to watch as firefighters battled the blaze.
Pete, 47, said: “On that Wednesday, we watched helplessly our livelihood and business go up in flames.
“It’s everything we have - we have nothing else. All the time we’re out of business, people will go elsewhere and they won’t come back. We could lose our business. People don’t realise it’s not just fruit and veg. We serve many communities and it’s equipment we’ve accumulated over 20 years.”
The couple have met with the market manager and agreed that no other space on the market was suitable for them.
A Rossendale council spokesperson said: “We share traders’ concerns that the debris and rotten food could have been removed more quickly. Unfortunately we could only do this once the insurance company had completed their investigation. The stall has now been demolished, but the insurers took longer than we would have liked and we will be raising this with them. We have offered the trader affected by the fire other stalls on the market.
“We have also provided advice and support.”