£100,000 worth of damage caused at Plymouth car showroom fire

Police are investigating a suspected arson attack on a car showroom in Plymouth.

Seven cars were destroyed by the fire at Platinum Car Centre in the early hours of Tuesday, 8 December.

The owner of the centre on Ham Drive in Peverell says the fire has caused more than £100,000 worth of damage.

19 firefighters from Crownhill, Camels Head and Greenbank were called at 1am but it was too late to salvage the vehicles.

The smouldering remains of the seven cars destroyed in the fire. Credit: James Alford / Plymouth Live

James Alford told Plymouth Live that he has no idea why anyone would have done this to his business.

"We moved to this site next to the Cherry Tree [pub] in February this year.

"I built this business from the ground up at the start of the lockdown.

"We've never had any problems. The people round here are all really lovely and we get on well with local businesses.

"At 1 o'clock this morning I had a call from the pub saying there was a fire at my business."

He added: "Seven vehicles, including a Land Rover Evoque, have been destroyed and that's about £100,000 worth of damage (in total).

"(It was) Completely unprovoked."

The Platinum Car Centre used to be based at Christian Mill Business Park before moving to the current premises in February 2020 Credit: James Alford / Plymouth Live

The cost of the fire is "fully covered" by the Platinum Car Centre's insurance and despite the fire the showroom has been able to reopen.