Caravans destroyed at dealership celebrating return to city

[dutchman]

Caravans have been destroyed in a fire at a dealership celebrating its return to Coventry.



A blaze saw 14 caravans and motorhomes go up in smoke at Broad Lane Leisure, in Tile Hill, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The incident, reported to have caused £300,000 damage, is being treated as arson. Twenty firefighters were needed to bring it under control.

The dealership had been due to open after coming back to the site where the business was formed over 40 years ago.

It had moved to larger showrooms in Alcester and Kenilworth back in the 1970s but returned after spotting a market for used caravans in the city.

One of the company's first customers had been Coventry City captain Carl Baker, who purchased a caravan for a family holiday over the summer.

The firm is believed to turnover around £14million a year and employs more than 60 people.

Before Saturday's fire, managing director Steve Brown had revealed his delight at returning.

"Coventry is in the lifeblood of the company," he said.

"This new site will help grow our business by increasing our capacity to display our caravan stock and is another outlet for the volume of used caravans coming to us."