Telford nursery playground destroyed by blaze

Nursery owner Paul Childs said staff were "heartbroken"

A nursery playground has been "totally destroyed" by a blaze which spread from a neighbouring industrial site.

About 60 firefighters tackled the overnight blaze which started in wooden pallets before spreading to buildings at the Halesfield 22 site in Telford.

Halesfield Day Nursery was due to reopen on Monday after a 10-week closure during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nursery owner Paul Child said: "We've spent the last few weeks preparing to open and are heartbroken."

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Mr Childs said he arrived at the scene at about 23:30 BST on Sunday, adding: "The flames looked 50ft (15m) to 60ft (18m) high, the fire was severe and so we didn't know how bad the damage would be."

Mr Childs said he and his wife Helen, who manages the nursery, were "thankful" no-one was hurt.

The nursery said the playground had been "totally destroyed" by the blaze

"Thankfully the building remained relatively unscathed in the grand scheme of things - so there is possible hope for us to reopen soon," he added.

Mr Childs said the charity-run nursery had lost donated equipment, including children's bikes and a six-seater buggy.

"All that's left is a shell of a shed and some fence panels," he said.

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Craig Jackson, Shrewsbury fire station manager, said crews had "worked hard through the night" to prevent the blaze spreading to other businesses.

"The fire involved a large number of pallets that was quickly spreading to adjacent properties and could be seen from across the county," he said.

The fire is still "smouldering away" and some firefighters remain at the scene dampening down, he added.

The cause of the blaze is still being investigated