Fire has completely destroyed the buildings, stock and customers machines at Surrey Power Machines at Claygate, Surrey.

The fire, which started at about 11.30pm on January 29 is thought to have had an electrical cause. SPM's founder Chris Harris said: “Our first concern was that anybody might have been hurt in the fire which, thank goodness, was not the case. Having got over the initial shock we are determined to do our best to ensure that the business is affected as little as possible.

"We have a great team who are pulling together, and great customers who have shown a lot of understanding."

Fire crews from Esher and other nearby stations, with six pumps in total, attended the blaze which also caused the closure of the A3 between Esher Common and Hook for a while as thick smoke blew across the road.

Chris Harris says that they are able to continue trading out of the firm's other branch, Richmonds Groundcare at Haslemere, Surrey whilst the work of identifying machines goes on at Claygate.

(Photo courtesy of Get Surrey, Surrey Advertiser Group)