Southwater car park closure: Repair delays caused by insurance claims
Repairs to a busy car park that was damaged in a major blaze were delayed due to insurance claims resulting from the incident.
Southwater multi-storey car park in Telford town centre is to shut completely for a week for repairs after part of it was damaged.
Part of the site was initially closed to shoppers following a car fire caused by an electrical fault last month.
From Monday the entire car park will shut to motorists for one week.
Telford & Wrekin spokesman Russell Griffin said: "As a result of insurance claims relating to the original incident, cleaning and repair works have had to be authorised by the loss adjuster, which is why there has been a delay. We have now received this so work can go ahead."
The council said it was normal for repairs to be approved by loss adjusters in the aftermath of such incidents.
The first two floors of the car park only will reopen on August 8 while the rest of the car park will open in the weeks that follow.
Three cars were destroyed in the third floor blaze on June 18 and damage was caused to lighting, electrical wiring and walls at the premises which left a number of bays unusable.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said they believe the fire started accidentally due to faulty electrics in one of the cars.
Shoppers were left stranded as smoke billowed from the building during the fire that was tackled by up to 15 firefighters. Surrounding roads were also closed in the immediate aftermath.
In addition, from Monday electricity company Western Power Distribution (WPD) will be laying a new mains cable in Southwater in a separate project.
This work is expected to take between three and four weeks and will see small sections of paving dug up in order to minimise disruption during the school holidays.
Telford & Wrekin Council's director of customer, neighbourhood and wellbeing services Jonathan Rowe said: "We'd like to thank people in advance for their patience while both these pieces of work take place.
"The WPD work is the laying of the electricity supply to the development at the front of Meeting Point House. This development was agreed after the original ground works for Southwater were installed.
"The multi-storey car park requires some essential works following last month's car fire before it can reopen and this will mean the car park has to close for a week to allow this to take place."
