Shropshire Star

Owners pledge to reopen fire-hit Oswestry restaurant

The owners of a fire-hit restaurant today pledged to be open again soon.

Published

Books Around the Corner in Oswestry remained closed today following the fire and a gas leak that later affected the building.

The leak was discovered during routine checks being carried out by firefighters following the blaze.

Today owners Matt and Lisa Newton said they will be open on Sunday for lunch, even if part of the restaurant is unusable.

Fire crews managed to retrieve equipment and the Wynnstay Hotel allowed Mr Newton to use its facilities.

Mr Newton and his staff managed to prepare 180 meals, as part of an arrangement he has to supply children at West Felton Primary School and prep care nursery, Little Acorns Nursery and Footsteps Nursery.

The area around Brooks Around the Corner, on the corner of Church Street and Lower Brook Street, was cordoned off at 9.30am yesterday after fire crews discovered the leak.

Police blocked off all four roads around the restaurant for three hours while gas engineers were called out to find the source of the leak and seal it off.

Fire fighters from Oswestry had been checking the building for hotspots as a follow-up to the blaze on Wednesday evening.

Incident manager Tim Davidson, from Oswestry fire station, said: "We were carrying out a re-inspection of hot spots and found there was a potential gas leak at which point we asked for the gas company to attend.

"They discovered there was a slight leak coming from the main gas supply pipe. As a precaution we set up a 200m cordon and evacuated about 15 premises with the assistance of police."

The cordon was reduced at 11am but the area immediately around the restaurant remained closed off until the afternoon.

Emergency services at the scene

Sergeant Scott Barnes, from Oswestry police, said: "The cordon was just a precautionary measure due to Wednesday night's fire."

Staff from Brooks were not allowed to re-enter the property until a structural engineer had carried out an inspection to ensure it was safe.

But fire crews retrieved equipment from the kitchens for Mr Newton so he could prepare food for the school meals service he runs.

He said: "Wednesday night when we were standing on the street the Wynnstay Hotel said anything they could do to help they would. I said a kitchen would be useful, not expecting anything to come of it, and they said yes. So yesterday we prepared 180 meals."

The fire is believed to have started in a tumble drier.

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