Pet shop reflects on 'devastating' fire anniversary

A pet shop and vet practice has reflected on a "devastating" fire that destroyed their joint store last year.

The fire at Nene Valley Retail Park in Northampton on 31 May 2025, destroyed a Dunelm home furnishings store and a Pets at Home outlet, which included a Vets for Pets surgery.

Plans to replace the fire-damaged shops were approved last month, but the vets will relocate to Sixfields Retail Park having been temporarily based at Riverside since the fire.

In a post on Facebook, Vets for Pets said: "It is a day we will never forget. In a matter of hours, everything we had built up and worked hard for, was gone."

The post continued: "We could never have imagined we would find ourselves in this situation, at this point we were left with nothing.

"While the fire took away our building, it could never take away the dedication, love and care of a team that makes our practice what it truly is."

Following the fire a teenage boy was charged with arson.

However, as reported by the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, the boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was deemed unfit to stand trial.

The BBC has contacted the court service, but it has declined to confirm the status of the case.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the rebuild of the retail units was unanimously approved by councillors at a meeting on 7 May.

RI BQ Stockport Limited submitted an application to West Northamptonshire Council asking to demolish and rebuild the row of six stores, which were home to Dunelm, Pets at Home, NCF, Dreams, B&M and Tapi Carpets.

The units that were occupied by Pets at Home and Dunelm have already been demolished, but the rebuild plans would see 102,548 sq ft (9,527 sq m) of floorspace reinstated on a "like-for-like" basis, with its scale to be comparable to the previous buildings.

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