Peter's Cathedral Bakers is set to resume production and reopen its chain of shops next week, a month after its bakery headquarters was hit by a major fire.

A new temporary bakery production site, being rapidly fitted out at Peterlee, should be ready to go into operation by midweek, with the family firm's 71-shops across the North-East and North Yorkshire set to re-open next Thursday.

Senior staff and shop managers were given details of the recovery of the business in the aftermath of last month's fire, at a meeting at Bowburn Hall Hotel, near Durham, yesterday.

Peter's retail sales and business development manager, Alan Dixon, said the initial target for re-opening, on Monday (MAY 24), has been put back three days to allow the newly installed machinery to be tested.

The company has carried out a rapid fit-out of the disused former Hibernia Foods unit, on Peterlee's North-East Industrial Estate, in the month since the blaze at its Dragonville Industrial Estate base in Durham.

"We're just about back in business, ready to roll," said Mr Dixon.

"We had to put the date back for the beginning of production until Wednesday to ensure we have everything right, and to allow us to test all the machinery.

"We started three weeks ago with an empty shell, with a little bit of kit we inherited, and it's been a round the clock exercise since getting everything into place.

"I would think we'll have between 70 and 80 per cent of our product range in the shops from Thursday, including all our best lines.

"Within around two weeks I would hope we can have the full range back in the shops."

A shuttle bus service will be laid on to transport two separate shifts to the Peterlee plant from Durham, all in company time.

Peter's 700-strong workforce, including 150 production and administrative staff, were told their jobs were safe and have been paid since the fire ravaged the Dragonville plant, on Sunday April 25.

Police, fire and insurance investigators have yet to pin-point the exact cause of the blaze.