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Cash and carry gutted following arson attack

Shelina Begum
24/ 6/2008

A BUSINESSMAN has vowed to carry on trading after his shop was torched following an arson attack in the weekend.

The fire at Watan Superstore on Waterloo Street, Glodwick was caused after a flammable substance was poured into the shop from their skylight roof and then ignited causing an explosion and a fire on Saturday at 2.45am.

The interior of the shop has been destroyed causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

The fire service attended and a joint investigation with the police is underway.

This is the second arson attack at the shop which is owned by Rochdale based Mohammed Younas who only took over the premises in February.

They have been in trade for eight weeks following two months of refurbishment work.

Mr Younas's son Omar said: "My father is completely devastated about this latest incident. He had returned from Pakistan on Friday afternoon following a bereavement and on Saturday morning the police turned up at our home to inform us that there had been some sort of an explosion at our shop.

"By the time we got there, the blaze which started at around 3am had completely ruined the interior of the shop, the force of the explosion shattered all the windows and the shutters had even come off.

"Our stock has been destroyed. We spent weeks refurbishing the business and had brand new tills and counters but everything has been gutted.

"We have only been in business for a short while but it had been doing well and the local community in Oldham have been very welcoming so we can’t understand who would want to do this to us.
"This is the second time we have been targeted.

"The first arson attack happened just a week after we started trading, but that left only smoke damage, but this is on a much larger scale and very worrying.

"There are flats on top of the shop and luckily no one was hurt.

"My father has been in business for over 35 years and we have an established cash and carry in Rochdale and in the recent years have also expanded into Manchester and Bradford. We have never had any trouble so we can’t understand who is behind this and why they are targeting us."

Omar said despite the huge set-back the family are working around the clock to get the business back on track.

"It could take up to a couple of months to restore the shop back to how it was but we won’t give up," said Omar.

"My father is a hard working strong man and we won’t be driven out of business."

He added: "The police have been called. One witness told us that they had seen three young men run away from the building. This is being investigated by the police.

"The matter is being taken very seriously and those responsible will be caught."

Detective Constable Keith Talbot said: "We have no doubt about the circumstances surrounding this fire; this was a deliberate arson attack on a local business and the offenders must be brought to justice.
"I would appeal to anyone with information to come forward."

Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 0161 856 8951, or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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