The owner of a Keighley fish and chip restaurant is counting the cost of a blaze which ripped through the premises late yesterday.

Steve Adkin was at home - about 40 miles away - when he got a call from staff to alert him to the incident at Wilsons Fish Restaurant, in Lawkholme Lane.

The fire broke out in a cooking range at about 4.40pm and spread through a flue to the upper floor.

“When I arrived at the scene I was gutted,” said Mr Adkin.

“There’s a lot of damage. It’s far too early to say when we might be open again.

“The restaurant wouldn’t be busy at that time of the afternoon but the staff did everything right and got themselves and everyone else safely out of the premises.

“I don’t understand how this has happened - we had the range serviced only a fortnight ago.”

The restaurant, known locally as Brook’s, employs more than 15 full and part-time staff.

Around 25 firefighters - some wearing breathing apparatus - tackled the blaze, which led to the closure of a section of Lawkholme Lane.

Crews remained at the scene well into the evening.

* For the full story, see Thursday’s Keighley News