The cause of Saturday’s fire in Crews Hill is still being investigated, reports James Cracknell

Several tonnes of stock were destroyed by the fire at Tile Kiln Farm

A local business supplying shops around the UK with food and drink lost an estimated £500,000-worth of stock in a fire on Saturday (2nd), the Dispatch can reveal.

The stock was being kept in a row of storage warehouses at Tile Kiln Farm in Crews Hill, owned by Leo’s Import Export.

The fire destroyed almost the entire business and was visible for miles, but fortunately no-one was injured.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) spent three days at the site, ensuring the blaze was fully extinguished before finally leaving the scene yesterday (Wednesday 6th).

Asked what had caused the fire, a LFB spokesperson said: “Due to the amount of damage sustained and the partial collapse of the structure of the buildings, it has not been possible or safe for LFB to carry out a full investigation into this fire.”

On a visit to the site yesterday, the owner of Leo’s allowed the Dispatch to photograph the extensive damage caused. Although he did not wish to be named, he said: “No-one was here [when the fire started], we came down in eight minutes but we had to let the fire brigade tackle it.

“The fire went on for three days.”

The warehouses owned by Leo’s Import Export were destroyed

The owner of Leo’s explained that his business supplies products such as sauces, olive oil, sweets and various dairy products to shops all across the country.

While he said that “everything” linked to Leo’s had been destroyed, including his office, other adjacent warehouses linked to another business on the farm were left unscathed.

He is now waiting for his insurance company to confirm the extent of his losses, but estimates it will be £500,000.

The fire could have been even worse, however. The boss of Leo’s said that someone who lives on the farm was able to save five large vehicles that were parked near the warehouses and could have also been set alight.

“He did his best to save it,” he said.

Leo’s has been based at Tile Kiln Farm for 16 years, and the owner doesn’t wish to leave.

“We have been here all these years and we never thought something like this could happen,” he said.

“We want to rebuild.”

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