A garage owner says he feared he was about to lose his business after watching flames engulf the premises.

But just two weeks after the building went up in smoke, Harry Turner was back open in the workshop at Sturry Tyres.

He has now thanked the traders for rallying around to help get the site up and running again despite the offices above the main workshop being completely destroyed.

While the site was out of action, Mr Turner and his staff adapted by providing a mobile service to keep the business ticking over.

Mr Turner, who took over the business in the village’s Mill Road three years ago, told KentOnline: “You don’t know how devastating a fire is on your property until it happens.

“I thought it was all over, we’re very lucky.

“But I got 200 telephone calls offering help within 48 hours of the fire they were from all over the Canterbury area.

“People also called in offering to sweep up the debris.

“The scaffolding was put up the next day and we had people like builders, and electricians coming in to do the work.

“We are a close community of traders here and we have done others favours so now it was time to call those favours back.

“We were charged but at very good rates.”

Mr Turner, who lives in the village, held special praise for his colleague Rod Moores, who tackled the flames with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

“He really went above and beyond,” added the business owner.

The fire damaged three-quarters of the upper floor, which has offices and a storage area, plus the roof.

The timber-framed building remains out of action and is set to be rebuilt but Mr Turner praised the quick-acting firefighters for saving the main building.

The lower floor was left intact but the whole building was classed as unsafe but has now been cleared and returned to use.

Mr Turner recalls: “A lot of stock was damaged. At one stage the firefighters had to throw burning tyres out of the window.”

They were doused with hoses when they landed on the ground to make them safe.

Mr Turner now understands the blaze was caused by an electrical fault which has been fixed following the repair work.

While the premises were unusable Mr Turner and his team went to customers’ homes to fit their tyres.

The flames erupted on June 5 and led to police having to close the A28, which the business is on, in both directions.

Four fire engines were at the scene and crews used breathing apparatus to deal with the incident.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said that two people were cared for by paramedics after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

Sturry Tyres - which also offers brake servicing and deals on fitting full sets of tyres - has existed as a garage for more than 30 years.