TRADERS have been forced to close during the demolition of part of a fire-damaged’ engineering complex in Burnley.

Firms at the Summit Works in Manchester Road, Rosehill, have been left in limbo as wreckers moved in to pull down the remains of the Phoenix Engineering premises.

The workshop was gutted by a massive blaze on Saturday night, which started when a man welding his car got into difficulties.

Firefighters have remained on standby at the works for the past four days as pockets of fire are still present.

But crews could not gain access to some of the smouldering remains, due to the precarious condition of the building.

Demolition contractors Windmill tore down the roof and remaining supports at the workshop yesterday as bosses at neighbouring firms began assessing the damage.

Mills and Scott Kitchens, Hollands Hydroponics and Remec Engineering were all forced to close for the day as a result of the operation.

Peter Lee, of Summit Auto Bodies, is waiting for a report from his insurance company but has already seen the rear wall of his unit buckle as a result of the fire.

He said: “We still have no idea when we can go back in. I have jobs part finished and other orders on the books.”

A Hollands spokesman said: “The Burnley shop has had to close and all calls have been transferred to our Manchester branch. They have got to do a lot of demolition and we are hoping to reopen tomorrow.”

Scott Furness, a director at Remec, said: “We don’t know what is going on but we’ve got to close while all this goes on. We can’t do anything until the building is made safe.”

The fire also spread to another unit, Duchamp Solingen, which provides gym mats and rubber sheeting. Burning rubber caused plumes of black smoke to drift across Burnley.

John Taylor, Lancashire fire brigade spokesman, said firefighters had not been able to gain access to certain parts of the building until demoliton took place. Firefighters would be on standby as the work could cause the fire to flare up again.