THE boss of a garden centre destroyed by fire has spoken of his devastation and that of his staff.

Fire ripped through Strikes garden centre in Stokesley, North Yorkshire on Friday night.

The Northern Echo:

Crews were at the scene damping down on Saturday morning and the full extent of the damage was evident with buildings reduced to shells.

David Abbott, retail operations director, was on the scene with a large number of staff and well-wishers.

Workers, some close to tears, comforted each other and spoke of being part of the Strikes 'family'.

Nearby residents came over with tea and coffee as people came to terms with what had happened.

Mr Abbott told The Northern Echo: "The staff are absolutely in bits. It's their livelihoods, it's their everyday work.

"I am so proud that they are here today in support of the company.

"It's really hard.

"We have had friends and neighbours coming over with teas and coffees. It's been absolutely fantastic, the messages on Facebook and social media etc, it's really nice to hear such comments coming through.

"At this stage I don't know what we will do moving forward. We obviously will have to take every day as it comes along at the moment."