Residents in a Nottinghamshire village have been left with a feeling of unease after a building and four cars went up in flames at a showroom in what is now the second fire at the site in the space of a year. Firefighters were called to the incident at Lowdham Cars, in Lowdham Road, just after 3am on Sunday, August 7.
Nottinghamshire Police cordoned off the garage but the main road has remained open. The MOT and servicing garage is owned by Mark Hassan and Melanie Hibbitt, who spoke to Nottinghamshire Live back in January when a building containing a soon-to-open cafe and gift shop burned down in a suspected arson attack.
At the time Mr Hassan said they had "spent thousands on it and it was just four weeks from opening". It was believed the fire in January was started deliberately.
But in the early hours of Sunday, August 7, firefighters were once again called to an incident at the site. This time four cars and another building had caught fire. One of two buildings, and a number of cars, were completely destroyed.
Residents in the village of Gunthorpe have expressed unease at the latest incident. Steve Simmons, who has lived in Lowdham Road for six years, said: "I was at my daughter's at the stables across the way as she was having a barn dance, and we walked back at about 11pm and didn't see anything.
"This is the third thing that's gone off there. The first, about a few years ago, was when they had all the cars smashed up and the second time there was a fire. It's a bit worrying that it has happened so close to home. We are lucky as we aren't too close, such as next door but one. I'm sure the police should be looking into it. It's very strange."
Speaking on Sunday morning, a couple living in the area, who asked not to be named, said: "We just got woken up at around 3am. We heard alarms, which is not unusual at this time of the year with the windows open, but then we heard tyres popping. I saw blue flashing lights and we could see the smoke."
And another resident, who lives next door to the property but asked not to be named, said: "There were quite a few fire engines. There were some flames. It was quite a big fire."
Describing the building which caught fire in the early hours of Sunday, a spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "[It's a] single storey building, 20 metres by 20 metres, used as a car showroom in a workshop." No injuries have been reported and a fire investigation is likely to take place into how the fire started.
Firefighters from the Bingham, London Road, Blidworth, Stockhill, Newark and Arnold stations were called to attend. Crews using four breathing apparatus and four hose reel jets put out the flames.
Nottinghamshire Live has attempted to contact Lowdham Cars for comment.
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