WITH the Access Self Storage warehouse at Byfleet now a pile of blackened wreckage, people who stored possessions there are concerned they have lost everything to the fire that destroyed the building.

More than 480 clients are believed to have rented units at the warehouse in Oyster Lane, which caught fire on Thursday evening last week.

Families are saying that they stored entire household contents at Access while waiting to move into a new home, treasured collections of items such as CDs and books have been lost and a community organisation Pride in Surrey’s event equipment has been destroyed.

With the remains of the building now safe to enter following firefighting operations that continued until Sunday, Access and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service can now investigate the cause of the blaze. 

The fire service was alerted to the incident by an automatic fire alarm that was set off at 8.50pm on Thursday. At the height of the blaze, 10 fire engines and three aerial ladders were being used to tackle the inferno and prevent it spreading to neighbouring buildings.

People in a wide area around Oyster Lane were advised to keep doors and windows closed as a huge pall of potentially dangerous black smoke rose from the warehouse.

Many people who rented units are joining the Access Self Storage Byfleet Fire Loss Group on Facebook, which was started at the weekend by a local woman.

Members have reported losing “all their worldly possessions”, with one client saying VHS tapes of their children’s lives, a deceased daughter’s Bible and furniture from four generations of his family.

Another customer said she had recently moved the contents of her house from South Africa and was storing them while she organised buying a new home in the UK.

A lifelong music fan has started an online fundraising to help replace the goods he was aiming to use to start an internet retail business.

Paul Pledger says he has spent 35 years working in music retail stored more than 8,000 vinyl records, CDs, books and memorabilia at Access and his plan to sell them via an online store has been dashed.

“I have lost valuable box sets and less-valuable dance, disco and reggae singles that were my personal favourites,” he says on his GoFundMe page, which has so far attracted £1,865 in donations towards a £10,000 goal. “It’s only stuff, but it’s my stuff and it cost a small fortune over the years.”

Firefighters spent most of the weekend damping down hotspots in the warehouse wreckage. Fire crews were sent to the building again on Monday after calls saying it was still smouldering and the fire service said further inspections would be made until a demolition team started work.

The fire also caused major damage to the Screwfix store which is attached to the Access building and spread into to the Halfords Autocentre that is part of the same block.

Screwfix says it will take some time to reopen its branch because of the damage to the building and stock.

A company spokesman told the News & Mail: “Customers who had orders at the store are being contacted by our customer service team.

A Halfords spokesman said: “The fire caused significant damage to our unit, which we are currently evaluating. As a consequence, regular business operations have been temporarily disrupted.”

Access Self Storage said on Monday that it had appointed a team of senior staff to work with the authorities and customers on investigating the cause of the fire and helping clients with insurance claims.

Customers seeking information about possessions that were stored in the warehouse are asked to email [email protected].