Mobile fish and chip business back on the road just weeks after fire destroys van (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Mobile fish and chip business back on the road just weeks after fire destroys van

8:30am Monday 4th March 2013 in News Exclusive By Julia Breen

A MOBILE fish and chip business which dramtically went up in flames on a village green just three weeks ago is back on the road.

Terry Garner and his partner Jean Stubbs were serving fish and chips to the villagers in Hutton Rudby, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire last month when their mobile van caught fire.

The couple escaped before the blaze quickly took hold and gutted the van. Witnesses reported seeing an explosion as the fat went up in flames.

Mr Garner, from Leeming, near Bedale, said he was devastated as he has been serving the British delicacy to the county's residents for more than 30 years.

It usually takes the 66-year-old four months in his spare time to convert a van into a mobile fish and chip shop - but he has been working day and night to complete the task in two weeks.

"It's been hard work but it was worth it to get out again. I have really missed serving - and obviously this is my livelihood. I can't even imagine doing another jobs," he said.

Mr Garner and Ms Stubbs were back on the road on Friday at RAF Leeming before returning to Hutton Rudby on Saturday, where he said they were given a rousing welcome.

They will be back on their usual round of villages near Northallerton on Wednesday and near York on Thursday.

North Yorkshire Fire Brigade had initially said the fire was caused by a build-up of fat in the extractor van - but Mr Garner said the van didn't have one.

"We can only think that we went under some low branches a couple of days earlier and that a twig got stuck in the flue and caught fire" he said.

Ms Stubbs escaped the fire by jumping out of the window while Mr Garner tried to put it out with fire extinguishers, to no avail.

The couple were left to watch helplessly as their business went up in flames.