Storage company to be rebuilt after huge Stafford fire
[gallery]A fire-ravaged storage firm wrecked after the huge blaze at neighbouring company Global Hygiene will be rebuilt.
Drummond Business, also known as Goodwins Removals Stafford, was badly damaged following the enormous fire at the Astonfields Industrial Estate last March.
The firm, which was based next to the industrial cleaning company, has submitted proposals for a 940 sq metre storage and distribution unit, which would save the 15 jobs that were there prior to the blaze.
The plans have now been approved by officers at Stafford Borough Council and look set to be signed off at the authority's next planning committee meeting. Goodwins was one of several firms hit by the fireballs which engulfed the industrial estate on March 2 when 40,000 litres of oil ignited.
The application outlines the proposal is for a 'New B8 storage and distribution unit and offices to replace existing fire damage building.'
It also confirms the warehouse will accommodate the 15 'existing' full-time employees.
The application has been contested by neighbour Bernard Timmins, who lives just yards from the site.
In a letter to the council protesting the application, he writes: "If they want to rebuild why not ask neighbours for their take on a building first.
"We do not care what Goodwin wants. What about us 12 feet away or don't the public count anymore?
"We have put up with this for years, we do not want lorries or other vehicles in and out after 6pm.
"Other businesses on the estate are not in and out at all hours of the day and night which are away from us. So why should we have this nuisance next door to us."
No-one from Goodwins wished to comment on the progress of the application. An investigation led by the Environment Agency is still ongoing into the cause of the blaze at Global Hygiene.
