A BUSINESS owner has spoken of her devastation after a huge fire gutted her family firm’s base.

Christine Chadwick is assessing the damage caused by the blaze at the Lawrence Eden Kitchen Studio at Hensingham, Whitehaven.

Her family has run the business for 33 years.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 6.20am yesterday and spent more than four hours battling the blaze.

Christine was woken to a call telling her that the building, on Sneckyeat Road Industrial Estate, was ablaze. She immediately rushed to work.

She said: “It was an absolutely devastating thing to come to work and see.

“We’ve had this business for over 30 years and it’s heartbreaking to see it like this. I don’t know how this could have happened.

“I just want to keep the business going, so we’ll look at other properties for the time being; but I can’t think that far ahead at the moment because I completely flabbergasted by what’s happened.”

Christine runs the studio with her sister and said that the property was insured.

Fire engines from Whitehaven, Egremont, Frizington and Workington were called to to tackle the fire.

Station Manager Adrian Holme praised the work of the firefighters but said that the building was severely damaged.

He added: “The firefighters reacted quickly to contain the fire so that it would not spread to other buildings on the industrial estate but there was nothing that could have been done to save this particular building.

“The damage throughout the building is very severe and it is a sad day for the business owner. The cause of the fire is unclear at the moment.”

The building, which measures 20metres by 15metres and houses a kitchen and bathroom showroom, was heavily smoke logged.

The scale of the fire was such that firefighters had to be divided into four sectors to tackle the blaze.

Cumbria Police is keen to establish how the fire was sparked.

A spokesman said: “We are urging any witnesses to come forward with any information that could determine its cause.” Call police on 101.