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Eccleshall community helps garden centre after fire

BBC Rupert FletcherBBC
Rupert Fletcher said the centre had just received a delivery of garden furniture when the fire hit, and 'not one single item' made it on to the shop floor

A community has been praised for helping a garden centre and miniature railway clear debris after a fire lit up the site "like a Christmas tree".

Fletchers Family Garden centre, in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, saw its second major blaze in three years on 25 March.

Rupert Fletcher, owner, said: "Everything we have worked so hard for has just gone up in smoke."

Hilcote Valley Railway, located on the same site, was also damaged.

The garden centre estimates damage totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Rupert Fletcher FireRupert Fletcher
Last month's fire was the second the garden centre has seen in three years

Stu Harris, station manager at the railway which he runs with his son plus volunteers, said the fire destroyed the booking office and platform shelter.

"The place was lit up like an absolute Christmas tree," he said, adding: "The support that we've had from the local community has been absolutely fantastic."

As well as helping clear up, the community has raised £3,500 to help re-build the railway.

Stu Harris
Stu Harris, manager at Hilcote Valley Railway, has set up a funding webpage to help in the efforts

"They've been brilliant, they've been wanting to come," Mr Fletcher said of volunteers' efforts.

"Old ladies have been turning up in their boiler suits and gloves and we've provided them with cups of tea, coffee and cake."

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has been contacted for comment.

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