A WELLINGTON firm has suffered its second big blaze in a year.

Firefighters were called to South West Computer Recycling on the Poole Trading Estate after three ‘artic’ trailers and a compound caught fire at noon on Sunday, causing £15,000 worth of damage.

Ten fire crews dealt with the fire and some stayed on through the night damping down and making the site safe.

Devon and Somerset Fire Brigade described the cause of the blaze as ‘accidental’.

A battery is thought to have started the fire and the company’s managing director Sam Kingdon said on Monday: “Batteries are very unsafe. But someone has to do this job.

“I was disappointed by comments on social media about the fire. We are creating jobs and supporting the local economy.”

The fire occurred behind The Old Brick Workshop gallery, which suffered water and smoke damage but was able to open on Monday.

“We are extremely sorry for any trouble we have caused the gallery,” added Mr Kingdon. “We will help it as best we can.”

Mr Kingdon praised the firefighters for their swift response and its neighbours.

The firm employs seven workers at Poole and was able to go about its business as usual on Monday.

The recycling firm suffered a more serious fire to a unit at the Poole Trading Estate 12 months ago and the damage can still be seen. This was also thought to have been caused by a battery.

Alison Cosserat, who owns the The Old Brick Workshop, said she was relieved how quickly firefighters turned up.

She said: “If the fire brigade had got there five minutes later I think it would have been a very different story. The building has no internal walls – it’s just two wooden floors – and if fire had got into the building it would have just gone straight through.”

Alison said the gallery had been closed since March because of the Covid-19 crisis and she was looking forward to open for Somerset Art Weeks, which runs from September 19 to October 4.