TWO East Cornwall business have risen from a mass of twisted steel and smouldering ashes — all that remained after a massive fire destroyed their shared Kelly Bray premises last week.

AB Lagerholm UK, a specialist sauna building and installation company, and Redmoor Herbs and Spices shared the building at the Beeching Park industrial estate.

Last Friday morning it was completely destroyed by a fire which needed the combined might of firefighters from all over the county to bring it under control.

But with the determination of staff and the help of suppliers and local people, both businesses reported this week they were operating more or less as normal.

Tony Pendleton, who owns Lagerholm with his wife, Jenny, said the building housed their entire stock and equipment, valued at more than £300,000.

'Many tonnes of beautiful first-grade Finnish spruce, specially slow-grown and made into world-class sauna products, were turned to piles of ashes,' he said.

'Hundreds of newly delivered sauna stoves and myriad support products were reduced to scrap metal. It was a heart-wrenching sight.'

The company is operating from its nearby office, untouched by the blaze.

'We are now working at full speed to rebuild our warehouse operation in temporary accommodation nearby and eventually back into a new building that will very soon be built to replace the one lost in the fire,' said Mr Pendleton.

He added that staff were hard at work and Lagerholm's Finnish factory had stepped up production to replace lost stock.

And even the company's competitors were helping deal with urgent orders, he said.

The company hopes to be back to normal by mid-September.

Redmoor owner Frank Benstead said they, too, were back up and running, but 'only on a wing and a prayer'.

He said suppliers had helped by getting new stock to the company immediately. A local businessman had provided them with premises and his staff had worked all weekend to get orders out.

'Eighteen jobs were on the line — plus my business,' said Mr Benstead.

'Luckily we've got loyal customers and we didn't let them down,' he said.

Mr Benstead predicted they would be running at 100 per cent by the end of the week, although it would take two or three months to get the business back to where it was and they were looking for extra staff to help.

The fire is believed to have started in the Redmoor premises. Fire investigator Derek Penhaligon ruled out any suspicious causes.

The alarm was raised by Mrs Pendleton, who had gone to the building at about 2.30 Friday morning after an alarm went off.

Callington fire chief Roger Denley said: 'We were quickly on the scene, but the whole building, from end to end, was alight.'

He said they had immediately called for back-up and at the height of the fire there were six machines and 50 fire fighters from as far afield as Camborne, St Austell, Bodmin and Saltash tackling the blaze.

The fire also threatened nearby buildings, which were sprayed with water to keep the temperatures down and plans were made to evacuate neighbours if required.

The community turned out to support the fire crews, including Callington Portreeve Kath Pascoe and her deputy Jane Black who provided tea and refreshments.

The Callington crew was relieved about midday, but were called back up at 7pm when the blaze flared again.

They then maintained a regular patrol to monitor the building until Saturday morning, when it was still smouldering some 30 hours later.