THE owner of a town centre car repair firm, which was gutted in a fire which completely destroyed his workshops, hopes to be back in business within two weeks.

Speaking just 48 hours after the blaze at their rented premises in Ednall Lane, Dave Hadley - who with his wife Kath is the co-owner of KAD Motor Services - declared they want to keep faith with their many customers by opening for business without delay.

"We have already looked at two premises, and are keen to open again as soon as possible to enable us to serve our many customers," said Dave, aged 28, from Catshill as he viewed the burnt out workshop. "I am anxious to get started again quickly," he added.

Last Tuesday's blaze also destroyed all but six of 27 vehicles belonging to him, his staff and customers which were parked outside the premises when the fire started.

The heat from the fire was so fierce that aluminium fittings on one car parked at the front of the premises melted and it ended up being welded to the ground.

Dave, who has nothing but praise for the emergency services, is anxious to dispel rumours that he was welding the Rover which caused the blaze and which was leaking fuel when it exploded into a fireball as he hoisted it up on a ramp. He said it is believed static electricity ignited the spilling fuel.

The workshops, which had oak beams and a corrugated iron roof, had in the past been used as an engineering workshop and more recently by a label printer. The skeletal building has been declared unsafe and will be demolished.