Ashton shop rebuilt after being smashed into by cars

AN ASHTON shop left destroyed when two cars smashed into it within just four months has been rebuilt and reborn.

The incidents in September 2022 and January 2023 left the roof of Alan Fish’s property on Canterbury Street essentially hanging in mid-air.

Now after 22 months of work, delays and disagreements, the building is back to how it should be.

Electrical store owner Alan, who lives opposite, was piecing together the wreckage of the first time a car ploughed into his property when it happened again on the evening of Thursday, January 5, 2023.

Amazingly given the wreckage, no-one was injured but the entire shop frontage and that of the flat above, which he rented out, came down.

At that time, only stands were holding the walls up but eventually after what were described as ‘two insurance companies disagreeing about who should pay for what’ rebuilding work began on October 2.

Now acter 22 months of heartache and questions, scaffolding and fencing has been removed revealing the rebuilt shop.

And the clock which once sat on a wall is also coming back.

Alan said: “I can’t believe one job can have so many problems rebuilding the shop.

“Every time a problem came up, there had to be more meetings with the builders, insurance, main contractors, sub-contractors, surveyors, structural engineers.

“The revealed shop looks great.

“The big question from people is, when is the clock coming back, hopefully in the next couple of months, fingers crossed.”