DAYS after a suspected arson attack caused an estimated £1 million worth of damage to a Whitstable marketing business, it was up and running on the long road to recovery.

The blaze, which destroyed half the premises on John Wilson Estate of promotions company FDS during the night of Saturday August 3, meant 70 employees had to be relocated. They are now working from the St Augustine's industrial estate in Swalecliffe and have been praised by the company's chairman Alison Williams.

"Our major concern is the well-being of our clients and the protection of our employees," said Mrs Williams. "It's been very make do and mend but we've managed to keep the disruption to staff and clients to a minimum."

Mrs Williams said the attitude of staff was testament to the positive spirit of the company. "On Monday I asked for three staff volunteers to come forward to help clean up -I was overwhelmed when almost 30 turned up," she said.

It seems the blaze started when a pile of rubbish was set alight next to the building. Mrs Williams said that many businesses on the estate were fed-up with the years of vandalism.

"Something must be done to point out the huge impact on the community these senseless actions have,” she said. "The knock-on effects locally are very deep indeed - it's an absolute nightmare." The company, founded in 1982, hopes to be back on the site by Christmas.