A DARLINGTON businessman has spoken about the upsetting impact of a fire at the carpet company he has run for more than 30 years.

Ian Leafe, managing director of Fisher’s Carpets, in Union Street, said he hoped to continue trading after a fire at the company’s premises in the early hours of Tuesday.

Fire investigators were yesterday beginning the painstaking process of piecing together the cause of the warehouse blaze, which took 30 firefighters to bring it under control.

Staff at the business, which is housed in a former church, were yesterday counting the cost of the blaze.

They spent the day speaking rearranging commitments to clients clients, as well as liaising with insurance company representatives.

Mr Leafe said: “We are still hoping to trade, but at this stage we are in the hands of the insurers and the landlord. It is still early days.

“I only arrived here late in the morning, having been in Manchester at the time - I turned around and came straight back.

“We have been contacting customers who we have got outstanding jobs with, but we are unable, obviously, at the moment to sell any carpets.”

Forensic examiners from both the police and the fire service began work at the site yesterday morning.

A police spokesman said the investigation was still at a very early stage, with the fire being treated as unexplained and inquiries ongoing.

Mr Leafe added: “It is very upsetting and very sad. We are still trying to deal with the aftermath of a very significant incident and come out of the other side.

“We have lost a reasonable amount of stock, but one of the saving graces is that the majority of the damage was in the warehouse part of the building rather than the showroom next door.”

Mr Leafe was reluctant to put a value on lost stock, or the damage to the building, which is still owned by the church.

He added: “We have been here a long time, we are part of Darlington’s retail history and we just have to take it one day at a time.”