Family heirlooms go up in flames in storage fire

Nine crews and three aerial ladder platforms attended the blaze

A woman who lost family heirlooms when a storage depot was destroyed by fire in Surrey has said she now has “nothing to pass on to anybody”.

Dozens of people's belongings were lost in the fire which started on 18 May at the Access Self Storage unit in Oyster Lane, Byfleet.

Among them was Amanda Boote, who spoke of the “emotional devastation” of her losses.

The Surrey county councillor said she lost items from different generations on both sides of her family, including antique clocks her father collected and furniture from her great grandparents.

The storage warehouse was left a charred shell after the fire

She said: “A lot of those things I remember back in my great grandparents’ house, or my grandma’s house, my parents’ house and all of those people who are not with us anymore.

“It’s a connection with them as well. I think the emotional devastation is much worse.”

She added: “I’ve got nothing to pass on to anybody now, it is all my family history.”

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service said the devastation within the building was "significant" and it would take weeks to identify the likely cause of the blaze.