Shropshire karting centre destroyed in blaze is back in action

The owners and staff at Rednal Karting near Oswestry were left devastated by a blaze that ripped through its headquarters on the Rednal Industrial Estate, a former RAF airfield, in August.

But a month later temporary building have been brought in and replacement karts loaned so the complex can continue to operate.

Mike Rees, who the day after the fire pledged to rebuild the business, said brand new karts had been ordered and it was hoped that a new, permanent building could be built by Easter.

He said he had been humbled by the good wishes and offers of help from the public.

"Customers who we had to cancel after the fire have rebooked and we have had lots of new bookings," he said.

"The offers of help we had from members of the public were incredible."

"We even had people who had been expecting to come and race with us on the weekend of the fire offer their help instead in cleaning up the site."

"The company that is building our new karts, which we hope will arrive in the next few weeks, have loaned us karts for the time being."

One of the biggest casualties of the fire was the Ginetta race car owned by one of the managers of the complex, Tom Wrigley, which was completely destroyed just days before he was due to race.

His mother, Lisa, said: "Thanks to the owner of Ginetta Lawrence Tomlinson, he got a call asking him to go down to Norfolk and race in a team car for Rob Boston Racing. He went - winning his race. Now he is part of the Rob Boston team has won more races and is at Silverstone this weekend.

"We are all absolutely thrilled for him."