Family moves back home weeks after fire

Dean Rogers-Rock, his wife Michelle and four children have been living with relatives since the fire damaged their home

A family made homeless when their home was damaged by a huge fire at a neighbouring building have been able to return to their property.

Dean Rogers-Rock and his wife Michelle were forced to evacuate their home after a former printworks on Catherine Street, Crewe, caught fire on 9 August.

The couple, and their four children, have been staying with relatives since the fire left their home severely smoke damaged.

A fundraising page set up by friends and family to raise money to help them replace damaged possessions has so far raised nearly £1,500.

A fire broke out a former printworks building in Crewe on 9 August

Mr Rogers-Rock thanked the community for their donations, which had allowed them to buy paint, clothes, food and "everything else that we needed."

The family were happy to be back in their house, he added.

"We're one step closer, but obviously (there's) still a lot of work to do. We're just... glad to be back home to be honest with you," he said.

"We can... sleep in our main bedroom tonight instead of sleeping on the mattress downstairs in the front room and being on the sofa."

He added there were boxes of toys and games, "all downstairs ready to go back up" once the carpets had been replaced.

A number of houses on surrounding streets were evacuated when the blaze broke out at the disused building.

The family's dog, which they were not allowed to get from the house during the incident, was later found unharmed.

Three men have been charged with arson over the fire.

Ms Rogers Rock described how the smoke was "crazy" and "just black" the day the blaze broke out.

"If we were here, I don't think we would have got out," she said. "My dad came and he said it was like night-time, even though it was half four."

"In a way we are lucky and then the community side of it as well, they've just been amazing, so seeing that shows a positive out of a negative."

Asked what it was like coming back home for the first time, she added: "Horrible. It took me days to even pluck up the courage to come in.

"Once I'd seen the dog, I think it made me just want to get back in the house."