ARSONISTS are being blamed for hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage after setting fire to tyres at the Riverside Industrial Estate on Sunday afternoon.

About 60 firefighters with 10 fire engines, an aerial ladder platform and foam carrier, fought for three hours to control the blaze at Merrow Tyre and Alignment Centre, which caused smoke damage to two neighbouring businesses.

Firefighters were still damping down the dying embers on Monday afternoon.

No-one was hurt but Merrow Tyres was closed this week, managing director David Allen flying back from his Lanzarote home to inspect the damage on Tuesday morning.

"It's a very sad situation," he told The Herald.

"We know it's arson but we've no idea who did it. The building is a total loss, so is all the stock. All the fitting machines and alignment tools were wiped out and the offices gutted."

Speaking from his home on the Isle of Wight, Mr Allen said that most Merrow Tyres customers were being accommodated at an affiliated workshop at Masons Service Station in Guildford Road.

He ultimately hopes to move back into the Riverside Industrial Estate unit once it is restored.

"Our customers come from as far away as Petersfield because of our reputation for high-quality service which we've built up over 16 years."

In the meantime, Mr Allen is looking for a temporary base and hoping to be back in business as soon as possible.

His six staff are "enjoying a well-earned break", on full-pay he said.

Neighbouring Computer Battery Services will also move after extensive damage to office equipment.

"We've lost everything; office equipment, computers. We're still working but I think we'll have to relocate because we can't use the unit," said employee Olive King.

But two doors down from the tyre centre, Riverprint staff pulled together on Monday morning to clean their smoke-damaged offices and were largely up and running by Tuesday.

Managing director Simon Granville-Jones said: "It has cost us, yes, but it's very difficult to put a figure on it. It has mostly cost us in terms of business interruption."

Surrey Institute of Art and Design journalism student Caroline Cook wrote in a report to The Herald: "Eyewitnesses

n Continued on Page 3.