Director of Pateley accountancy firm thanks firefighters following blaze

Local business owners called the fire service at 7.15am when they saw smoke billowing from the basement of The Barker Partnership on the High Street yesterday, April 24.

Fire crews and police cordoned off the High Street from 8 - 10am, causing traffic, including buses dropping off local school children to be diverted.

Following the events, Director of the Pateley branch of The Barker Partnership thanked the emergency services for their 'prompt and professional' approach.

Director, Stuart Strike, said: "Following a fire at our Pateley Bridge Office earlier this morning, we would like to extend our thanks to the Firefighters of Harrogate, Masham and Summerbridge whose prompt and professional intervention ensured that the blaze was contained and that damage was kept to a minimum.

"We are confident that the incident will not cause any significant disruption to our operations and that the office will be open for business as usual very shortly.

"In the meantime, if you need to contact us, please phone our Harrogate Office on 01423 525641."

There were no injuries or casualties reported as a result of the blaze, which started in the basement of the building and caused smoke damage throughout.