Huge fire guts New Town restaurants

A RESTAURANT has been destroyed and another one badly damaged after a fierce fire in the New Town.

The blaze, which broke out at the Bakehouse Company restaurant on Broughton Street, was spotted by police and ambulance workers as they tended to an unrelated incident opposite the shop when a woman was knocked off her bike.

The fire was reported just after 8.30pm, and is believed to have started among the electrical wiring within the building.

Around 40 firefighters and 11 appliances battled flames, which also affected the next door Khushi Punjabi restaurant and six newly-developed flats above.

Lothian and Borders Fire & Rescue Service worked through the night taking the structure apart to make sure there was no risk the fire could reignite.

Nobody was injured and the Bakehouse was closed at the time. It is understood there has been extensive smoke damage to both buildings.

Mohammed Akram, who owns Khushi Punjabi and is the president of the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland), said he had been serving customers when he noticed the thick smoke.

He said: "We immediately evacuated all the staff and customers. We don't know the true extent of the damage yet, but we will not be operating for a few weeks. We're upset as this is a very unpleasant situation, and we'll miss the festival season. We feel numb at the moment, we haven't really taken it in.

"We noticed the fire when our kitchen filled up with smoke, which is very unusual. The building is very historic, so we're glad it has been saved."

The restaurant is not to be confused with the Khushi's Indian restaurant chain, whose restaurant on Victoria Street burnt down in December 2008.

Edward Lonie, who said he had spent 1 million developing the six flats above the restaurants in time for the Festival, said: "I'd just renovated the flats. A friend who was driving past called me to tell me what had happened. It's just fortunate no people were involved."

Keith Shaw, who bought the Bakehouse Company restaurant just six months ago, said: "We don't know anything yet, nobody has told us anything."

Student Sophie Tolley, 22, from Marchmont, said she had spotted the fire as she walked past the Bakehouse. She said: "There were huge flames and a lot of smoke coming out of the building, then the smoke got thicker. It was quite a sight."

Just ten minutes before the fire, police and ambulance workers had been called to aid a 35-year-old woman who had fallen off her bike. It is believed she clipped a wing mirror, causing her to catapult head-first into the road. She was knocked unconscious by the fall and was taken to the ERI with facial injuries.

One resident, who was standing outside the restaurant when people spotted the flames, said: "The girl fell off her bike outside the wine shop next door and lots of people had gathered.Suddenly everyone spotted huge red flames coming from the side of the building, which were coming through a crack in the front entrance. It was an odd coincidence it all happened at the same time, on the same street. After the fire brigade got the flames under control there was a lot of smoke to deal with."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade said: "There were around 40 firefighters battling a blaze at the Bakehouse Company Restaurant on Broughton Street. Six fire appliances and two height appliances were called, and police closed off an area of the street around the fire.

Fortunately there were no reports of casualties, but this was a fierce fire and there is likely to be extensive fire and smoke damage to the two buildings."