THESE dramatic pictures show the charred remains of a Worcester warehouse gutted in a huge fire.

Firefighters remained at the scene of the blaze at the ArrowXL building on Blackpole East industrial estate, off Cotswold Way, throughout the day yesterday (Friday) and are expected to remain at the site at least until this afternoon.

An investigation is ongoing but the cause of the blaze has not yet been established.

ArrowXL has vowed to bounce back from the fire, which engulfed the 200,000 sq ft warehouse at about 8.30am on Wednesday, saying it hopes to be back up-and-running "in a matter of days".

The specialist delivery company says it has not yet decided what will become of the ruined warehouse – with a complete rebuild an option – but says it is committed to staying in the city.

Charlie Shiels, ArrowXL's chief operating officer, said: "ArrowXL has a business continuity plan in place.

"This type of disruption has been considered as part of our planning.

"Our plans identify the requirement for local replacement premises to be in place as soon as possible.

"We keep a register of available premises. It is our intention to be back up and running in a matter of days and we are in contact with our Worcester colleagues about re-commencing operations.

"ArrowXL has been operating in Worcester for over 20 years and remains committed to its colleagues and the city.

"Whilst it is far too early to say with any certainty what will happen to the Worcester site, one of the medium-term options that will be considered is the complete rebuilding of the warehouse.”

It is not yet known where the replacement premises will be located.

At its height, the fire-fighting operation involved 70 firefighters from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, who fought to subdue the blaze for several hours.

Although the fire was largely extinguished by late afternoon on Wednesday, crews were still on site yesterday carrying out checks every four hours to make sure no hot spots remained.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the fire service and police.

No-one was hurt in the blaze at the site, which employs up to 200 people.

The site has been secured by external contractors and roads around Blackpole, which were closed during the emergency, have now re-opened.

Fire service area commander, Keith Chance, said: “I would like to thank all our firefighters that worked exceptionally hard and helped to contain the fire from spreading.

“I would also like to thank the police, ambulance, Environment Agency and all other agencies that pulled together to work seamlessly to bring the incident under control.”