A127 Wickford Alton Garden Centre damaged by fire

Alton Garden Centre, located just off the A127, in Wickford was subject to a major fire last night.

Crews were called to the garden centre at 9:29pm last night.

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At least nine crews were in attendance where the first floor of the two-storey garden centre, was completely alight.

It took more than two hours to put the fire out, and there now will be an investigation into the cause.

Derek Bunker, managing director of Alton Garden Centre, who started this business 51 years ago, has confirmed they were subject to the fire and explained the damage that was caused.

He told BBC Essex the restaurant won't be open for some time, and there is a lot of smoke damage in the store.

Mr Bunker said: “We got a phone call last night, around about 9pm, to say there was a fire in the garden centre.

“We have our own security here all night, and the fire alarm went off, they investigated and quickly saw there was a fire, so got in touch with the fire brigade, and rang my son and me.

“I got down here, and by then there were various fire engines down here, it was pretty hectic.

“It didn’t seem at first that big a fire, but in fact the issue was the access to the fire, that was a big problem, because it was in the roof, and they couldn’t get to it.

“It took them quite a while to figure a way of getting to it, in the end they had to cut a whole in the roof from above.

“I left at midnight and there were still 30 to 40 firemen here, it was a pretty big issue.

“It could have been a lot worse, fortunately with the fire screens we have, as the fire alarm goes off, the shutters come down and cuts 50 per cent of the garden centre off. So, 50 per cent of the shop is untouched. The other 50 per cent there is smoke damage.

“The restaurant will be shut for quite a while as there is a lot of damage there, but the rest of the shop should be up and running by the weekend.”