Shops to rise from ashes
Shops gutted in a blaze are to be rebuilt.
Four shops in Bridge Street, Deeping St James, were burned to the ground in August 2007.
The premises of The Bridal Centre, Fusion, shoe shop Hopscotch and The Barber Shop were all destroyed.
Now site owner and businessman Terry Wright has been given approval by South Kesteven District Council to build six new shops.
The news has been welcomed by Fusion owners Philippa Burdock and Jan Vanner, who will be the only traders from the orginal shops to return to the site.
They have been running their soft furnishing and evening wear business from a temporary site in High Street, Market Deeping, since September after losing everything in the blaze.
Mrs Burdock said: "We are looking forward to going back to a permanent premises because it has been very unsettling for us.
"We are determined to relocate in the village as we think it is important to keep business there."
Deepings Business Club says it is good news.
Member Tim Cox said: "It will help other business in the vicinity. If we lose businesses from one area it detracts from other businesses in that area."
The blaze on the morning of August 18 was sparked by an electrical fault above The Bridal Centre, which has since relocated to St John's Street in Stamford.
The Barber Shop, run by Simon Robinson, has moved into new premises, next to Terry Wright Cycles in Bridge Street after operating from a portable building.
Mr Robinson (40), of Bluebells, Deeping St James, said: "I was trading on 80 per cent of custom I had. My regular clients are starting to come back.
"It is going well and trade is a lot better."
Jane Rons decided to call it a day after the blaze ripped through her children's shoe shop Hopscotch.
The fire rounded off a difficult time for 31-year-old Jane, of Wheatsheaf Road, Deeping St Nicholas, who has been treated for breast cancer.
Now Jane, who opened the shop in January 2006, is concentrating on being a full-time mum to children Oliver (7) and Benjamin (5).
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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