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Morrisons fire: Folkestone store to reopen within a year

A store destroyed by fire last month could reopen within the next 12 months.

Morrisons in Cheriton Road, Folkestone, went up in flames last month but today a temporary store in the car park has opened for shoppers.

It's a third of the original size and is employing 80% of the original staff.

At the official reopening this morning, general manager Andy Parkinson said he hopes the main store will be up and running with in the next 12 months.

He said: "We hope the new store will be ready within a year. The temporary one has been put up within 11 days. The retail team have been in for the last 48 hours to replenish it.

"The shop is a third of the original size and pretty much everything is in stock apart from the counters - the butcher, bakery and fish mongers."

The Morrisons supermarket once the blaze had been put out. Picture: Kent Fire and Rescue
The Morrisons supermarket once the blaze had been put out. Picture: Kent Fire and Rescue

The building went up in flames after a deep fat fryer in the store's cafe is believed to have caught alight.

More than 50 firefighters attended the scene at its peak and fortunately, there were no injuries.

The temporary store is around 10,000 sq ft in size with enough Morrisons stock for a weekly shop as well as Christmas products.

The outside of the new temporary store in Cheriton, Folkestone (5807717)
The outside of the new temporary store in Cheriton, Folkestone (5807717)

It will include fridges, freezers, signage, checkouts and 'everything that customers would expect from a supermarket'.

It has also applied for an alcohol license.

The new structure is around 50m long, 20m wide and 10m high.

White metal girders make up the frame with a plastic canvas as the roof.

To read more about today's opening click here.

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