IT could take up to two years to rebuild a Worcester warehouse gutted in a devastating blaze.

ArrowXL has revealed the full extent of the huge re-building job it is facing following the fire, which took hold of its site at the Blackpole Trading Estate at about 8.30am last Thursday.

In the meantime, the courier company is moving its warehouse operation to a site in Chepstow, South Wales, until further notice – and says it aims to be up-and-running there by tomorrow (Wednesday).

All its warehousing staff who worked at the Blackpole site will be transported by the company to and from Chepstow each day, whilst its delivery operation will still be based at Worcester.

Around 150 to 200 staff are based at ArrowXL’s Worcester hub at any one time, handling deliveries for Midlands and South West.

The company says it is committed to staying in the area and will be exploring options to rebuild its Worcester site over the next two years.

“A huge amount of praise and thanks goes to our dedicated workforce for their amazing support and patience at this challenging time,” said chief operating officer Charlie Shiels.

“Together, we are looking to the future in Worcester and everyone is fully determined to get back to business as usual as soon as possible.

“Equally, we’d like to take this opportunity to say a very special-thank you to the emergency services for such as fantastic job over the last few days, and to our clients and their customers for their support and understanding, which is greatly appreciated.”

The fire service says that investigations into the cause of the blaze are still being carried out. No-one was injured during the fire.

Some 70 firefighters from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire tackled the blaze and, though it was extinguished by the end of the afternoon, crews remained on the site until Saturday as a precaution.

ArrowXL’s Worcester hub has been operating since 1994. It is one of a national network of four hubs, 17 satellite bases and 230 delivery teams on the road six-days-a-week.