'Grass fire devastated our business community'
Independent business owners say they are "devastated" after returning to see how their premises were destroyed by a grass fire which spread to a nearby industrial estate.
Half the units on the Locking Farm Industrial Estate in Weston-super-Mare burned down in the early hours of 18 August, including an MOT centre which had been trading for 30 years.
Avon and Somerset Police arrested two teenage boys in connection with the fire, which is believed to have been started deliberately. They have both been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
Martin Fey, the estate site manager, said: "It's surreal to come back and see what was a thriving business community absolutely decimated."
Just after a week on from the fire, the business owners have been allowed back to their units to assess the damage.
Fey said he expected some buildings will have to be knocked down and rebuilt in a process he thinks will take more than a year to complete.
"Eight businesses now cannot trade which has affected the lives of 30 or 40 people - some have lost everything.
"Insurance will help, but it can in no way get them back to where they were. It's very sad," he told the BBC.
John Harvey, owner of the BT MOT Centre which has been at the site for 30 years, is among those impacted by the fire.
"I haven't got words for it - what can you say - it's just gone" he said.
Harvey added that he could have been killed in the fire as he was sleeping onsite in a campervan while renovating the workshop.
He returned home on the evening of the blaze.
"I was here on Sunday night - me and my dog - because my family was away and I worked late and got up early.
"If that had been Monday, would I still be here? I don't know," he said.
A fundraising campaign has been launched by local residents to help Harvey financially recover from the incident.
He said: "Everyone that's been so kind, I can't thank them enough. They've rang and they've come round and they've been so generous.
"I couldn't wish for anything more."
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