A DEVASTATED site owner, who saw a fire rip through several of his outbuildings, said the destruction will take a month to clear up.

Firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze which struck at a number of outbuildings in Harwich Road, Lawford, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Fire crews reported there were four buildings, which measured about 36 metres by 28 metres used for storage, alight.

Due to the remote location of the buildings, the officer in charge called for the support of several other fire crews to provide a vital water supply to tackle the fire.

A total of nine crews attended the incident coming from Colchester, Manningtree, Clacton, Dovercourt, Frinton, Halstead and Holbrook.

As a precaution, firefighters also requested that two nearby houses were evacuated.

An Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said the crew worked through the night to contain the fire.

He said: “At 2.24am, the officer in charge reported the incident had been divided into areas to allow fire crews to surround the building more efficiently.

“By 3.10am, firefighters had managed to isolate the electricity supply and surround the building completely.

“At 5.16am, crews reported that the fire was under control and almost completely extinguished.

“Four fire engines remained at the scene for a further hour to continue dampening down remaining hotspots.

“By 8am, the incident had been scaled down to one fire engine to monitor the scene, with the final crew leaving the area at 10.20am after ensuring there was no risk of reignition.

“The building has been completely destroyed by the fire.”

An investigation was launched to establish the cause of the devastating fire.

It found that the fire was caused accidentally by an electrical fault in a consumer unit within one of the buildings.

The site’s owner, Dave Spurgin, said yesterday he and his wife were devastated.

He said it was a major blow for the building to go up in flames.

Mr Spurgin said:” The buildings was used as an old greenhouse.

“It was used for local boys and their friends to store all of their new and old farm stuff, as well as cars.

“Looking at the state of the damage, I think it will take about a month to clear.

“We have started at one end and will be working our way down from there.

“I moved here 30 years ago and the buildings have been here for about 40 years.”