Express & Star

Wolverhampton Belly Busters cafe to be demolished after huge fire

"We just fell to pieces" - these are the words of a devastated cafe owner as he watched his Wolverhampton business go up in flames.

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Popular Belly Busters Cafe in Upper Villiers Street, Blakenhall, will now face demolition.

Ken Roberts today described his cafe, on BizSpace business park, as a "write off" after 30ft flames engulfed it this week. More than 30 fire fighters battled the blaze from 2.30am on Monday morning, gutting the cafe and leaving it a burned-out wreckage.

Mr Roberts, aged 58, of All Saints, said: "I got the call about 4am and at first me and my wife Christine thought it was a small fire. Then we heard how big it was and Christine and I just fell to pieces.

"We went to the cafe and we could see all the flames coming out the roof. I can't even tell you what was going through my mind, I just wanted to see what had happened to the cafe but the firefighters were telling us to keep back.

"We saw the damage and it is a write off. We were told it will have to be demolished."

Fire at Biz Space Industrial Park Blakenhall Wolverhampton. Photo West Midlands Fire Service

The fire took more than three hours to contain and damaged two other units believed to be offices, meeting rooms and storage space.

Crews were unable to fight the blaze from inside as the building became structurally unsafe.

Mr Roberts, a former funeral director, has run the cafe with Christine for four years.

They also own another branch in Parkfield Road, Parkfields in the city.

The cafe boss said he will now look to trade out of a static caravan next to his gutted business.

He added: "We have three girls who worked in Upper Villiers Street now helping us in Parkfield Road because we don't want to lose any staff.

"I think in the next few weeks we'll be back down in Blakenhall in some form or other, possibly with a static caravan, there are a lot of customers who know us there.

"It's an upsetting time and once the investigation is finished by West Midlands Fire Service we can get a picture of what happened."

The fire service said an investigation into the fire was ongoing.

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