Looe fish and chip restaurant reopens after catastrophic fire

Fire crews from all over Cornwall were called to the blaze last year

A popular Cornish fish and chip shop has reopened 10 months after a catastrophic fire swept though the building.

The Coddy Shack restaurant and take-away at Looe was gutted by the blaze last year.

The owners said they had risen "like a phoenix from the ashes" and have expanded the business, the menu and the opening hours.

They have thanked the local community for its support after the fire.

Firefighters used an aerial ladder platform to direct water at hotspots

Eight fire engines from across Cornwall were called out to tackle the blaze on the outskirts of Looe in the early hours on 2 May 2023.

The owners of the Coddy Shack, Hannah and Jason Bond, had been at the Padstow Obby Oss celebrations the day before the fire.

They were woken up in the early hours by a flurry of phone calls and rushed to the site to find out what was going on.

The Coddy Shack fish and chip restaurant was devastated by the fire

Ms Bond recalled: "It was gone by the time we got here, there was nothing left.

"We lost 15 years work overnight, it was catastrophic.

"We had a team of 30 or 40 people that were all out of a job, it's just like nothing else you've ever experienced."

Work to rebuild started straight away - now the Bonds have installed a new state-of-the-art kitchen and are thinking about expanding from a 60-seater restaurant to 100 seats as well as creating a new decking area.

Hannah and Jason Bond have ambitious plans to expand the rebuilt Coddy Shack

Ms Bond said: "A customer said to us we were like a phoenix risen from the ashes and I think that's a brilliant analogy, that's exactly what we are."

She thanked the community for its support, saying: "The customers have been amazing, the support that we have had has just been incredible.

"The amount of people that have offered to come up and lend a hand has been really special actually."