LFRS investigation into cause of fire at Inchcape Jaguar Land Rover car dealership in Preston concludes

A three month investigation into a blaze which ripped through a luxury car dealership has concluded.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire to Jaguar Land Rover car dealership at Bluebell Way, Fulwood, at around 1am on Friday, April 7.

The ferocious blaze at its height was fought by more then 60 firefighters with 10 fire engines,and two aerial ladder platforms.

By 3.30am there were still nine fire engines at the scene alongside a number of specialist appliances, a stinger and a drone team. It took until 6.30pm that day for almost all the appliances to leave the site. And it wasn't until 10.45am on the Saturday that the incident was officially closed.

An investigation was then launched into the cause of a fire at the dealership which is owned by retailer group Inchcape. Fire investigators have now revealed they have concluded their investigation and the cause of the blaze still remains a mystery.

The fire service stated at the time they believed the incident did not involve electric vehicles, but a “full fire investigation will confirm the likely ignition source in due course.”

A spokesperson for Inchcape said at the time: “It is too early to speculate on exactly what happened, however we are working in conjunction with various experts to determine the cause. As we work through this the business will be closed temporarily and we will of course support our team and communicate with our customers throughout this period.”

Many prestige vehicles were damaged in the blaze at the dealership, which opened in 2018, and the total cost is likely to run into seven figures - although Inchcape declined to talk about the amount at the time.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “The fire is believed to have been accidental, however we were unable to determine a cause due to the damage sustained and, as such, we are no longer investigating.”