A CUMBRIAN meat wholesaling business is up and running again in a new location just days after a major factory blaze.

Flames ripped through the Lake District Farmers building at Lindal-in-Furness on Saturday (June 20) - 'decimating' its main production facility.

But the same night, managing director Dan Austin signed a lease on a unit at Tebay and hopes to have business running at full capacity in four weeks.

"It was very difficult to take in at first - looking at your life's work burning down in front of you," said Mr Austin. "You have a wobble the moment when you feel your whole world is crashing down but you have to get back up and do something about it to go forward."

Cumbria Fire and Rescue was called to the business at 2.47pm on Saturday where smoke could be seen billowing into the skies.

Seven engines from Windermere, Ulverston, Milnthorpe, Barrow and Walney were dispatched to tackle the fire which engulfed the production unit.

Crews were on site for four-and-a-half hours and used an aerial ladder platform, hose reel and main water jets to bring the blaze under control.

"I was called out on Saturday afternoon and got there to find about 34 fire fighters on site," said Mr Austin. "We don't know a great deal at the moment.

"We have no idea about the cause of the fire but it looks like it started in the main production facility. It was so severe I still can't go on the site."

Mr Austin said investigators were now assessing the scene to establish the cause.

"As far as the factory is concerned it's pretty much a write off," he said. "The offices were okay as they're a separate building. We had great support from our team and every member of staff turned up to check people were okay. No one was hurt because we don't open at weekends."

The burned down factory is where 80 per cent of production is carried out by the raw meat sellers.

Production and all employers from that line relocated to a unit at Tebay, owned by the Dunning family, on Monday, when it was business as usual.

Mr Austin said the cost of the fire to LDF will be 'extremely substantial' but the priority was to their customers which include the likes of Michel Roux Jnr and Marcus Wareing.

"We are a quality driven company so the first thing we will do is put our product out there again," he added. "We've landed on our feet, the facility (at Tebay) is bigger and I think it will take us forward."