A DEVASTATED Greenock business owner has told of her shock after fire ripped through her premises and caused 'catastrophic' damage.

Caroline Darrah - who recently spent thousands of pounds renovating her CM Barbers shop - looked on yesterday as the place lay in ruins.

The shop on Sinclair Street was suddenly consumed by flames on Monday night before the blaze was extinguished by firefighters.

OTHER NEWS: State of 'overgrown' trees on Greenock's Duncan Street criticised

But Caroline yesterday told the Telegraph that she is determined to keep her business running.

(Image: George Munro) (Image: George Munro) (Image: George Munro)

She said: “We’ve lost everything, it’s all been contaminated with all the smoke damage.

“I opened here during lockdown, and we’ve been here four years, our four members of staff are all devastated.

“Nobody was hurt but the damage inside the shop is catastrophic.

“It happened at around 11 last night, it was old wiring in the loft that caught fire.

“It was just one of those freak of nature things, the fireman said it was just random, nobody caused it.

“The fire didn’t stop until about four o’clock this morning.

“I live in Port Glasgow and I heard about it when I got a phone call, I was stunned.”

Fortunately, Caroline will be able to get her business back and up and running before the end of the week, thanks to the kindness of her neighbour and landlord Jai Dhillon, who is letting her use the old post office next to her burnt out premises as a base.

The 52-year-old praised Mr Dhillon’s kindness and thanked members of the local community for all the held and support she had received since the blaze.

(Image: George Munro)

She added: “Jai’s been up all night with us trying to help out.

“We’re moving into 48 Sinclair Street and if anyone wants to contact us, they should do it through our Facebook page.

“Jai’s already got somebody coming out to sort the shutter and secure the roof, nobody asked him to do that, he’s done that himself for us.

“We’re autism friendly and we cater to everybody, it’s the heart of the community this barbers.

“We’ve one of the cheapest places in the town I’d say and that’s because we’re here to make a living, not get rich.

“I’m gutted but Jai is helping us out and we’re not down and out yet.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted at 11.59pm on Monday, 15 July, to reports of a fire within a commercial premise on Sinclair Street, Greenock.

“Operations Control mobilised three appliances to the scene, where crews extinguished the flames.

“Firefighters left after ensuring the area was made safe.”