A HUGE fire which ripped through a Colne storage company was arson, it can be revealed.

The incident devastated EasiStore4u, in Burnley Road, on July 6. Firefighters said a Ferrari stored at the site had been reduced to a shell, together with another car, while £20,000-worth of furniture fabric in another unit had been destroyed.

More than 60 firefighters, using two aerial platforms, tackled the blaze at its height.

EasiStore4u, which has been running for more than six years, has 26 garage-sized lock-ups for customers as well as a number of larger industrial units.

Around half of the 100m x 500m building was wrecked by the fire and the other half has been left with severe water damage.

Boss Ken Ingham said that despite initial opinion being that it was an accidental fire, it is now being treated as deliberate.

And DC Richard Blackburn said: “The fire service concluded that it was not accidental.

"We are now at the initial stages of a police investigation.”

Mr Ingham said that CCTV is now being examined to find those responsible.

He said: “We know that these things tend to take time and we understand that.

"It is not good that someone would set fire to my business but we hope the police can catch whoever did it.”

Burnley Road, one of the main routes through Colne, was closed for more than seven hours while the blaze was tackled.