THE DEVASTATED boss of a disaster-hit takeaway, said he faces rebuilding his entire livelihood after watching his business burn to the ground.

The Sahad takeaway building on Accrington’s Blackburn Road partially collapsed into the street three weeks ago and on Wednesday night the building was destroyed by a major fire.

Lancashire County Council said the road is likely to remain closed until late afternoon today. LCC plan to reopen one side of the road today and install a temporary traffic light system to remain in place while the buildings are considered unsafe.

Owner Mohammed Masood said he was shocked to see the business he had taken years to build, disappear in a few hours. He anticipates the clean-up operation at the site alone is likely to take weeks.

He said: “It was a thriving business and we never had any trouble, it seems all our bad luck has happened all at once. The place is a mess. There’s nothing left. Just dealing with the clean up and insurance companies will take weeks if not months.

“I don’t know what will happen next. Who knows how long it will take to get the business back up and running?

“It took me 13 years to get to where I was and I watched it go up in smoke in just a few hours.”

People were evacuated from their homes and crews from across East Lancashire were called on to help tackle the blaze. Flames shot out from the roof of the takeaway and thick black smoke could be seen from as far away as Burnley.

A few weeks ago the front of the building collapsed into the street which also led to evacuations and a road closure. The road was closed off again from from Tanpits Road.

An investigation is underway into the fire but police have said it is believed to have started accidentally in a flue.