Press+-+Haringey+Independent+-+Fire+breaks+out+at+Wards+Corner

=Fire breaks out at Wards Corner= Elizabeth Pears - Haringey Independent (Tuesday 29th July 2008)


 * ==A fire broke out at the Wards Corner site last night.==

The fire brigade were called at 7.51pm after an electronic advertisement sign between Wards building and shops on Seven Sisters Road caught fire.

Tottenham firefighters had to smash through the windows of the former department store to tackle the blaze.

Some of the flames were as tall as the building, an eye witness said. The site is the subject of a long-running dispute between developer Grainger, which plans to turn the site into luxury flats, and a coalition of concerned residents and small business owners, Wards Corner Community (WCC), which is against the proposals.

If the plans were approved, the Wards building would be demolished and 70 traders from the Latin American market would be forced to find new premises. || || Last week, a billboard paid for by the WCC to promote their message to save Wards Corner was blanked out. The sign was replaced but was again postered over last night.

The coalition now fears foul play and is planning to guard the site 24 hours a day.

Lagu Sukumaran, who owns a business on West Green Road, said: "Things are going from bad to worse. People’s lives are now being put at risk.

"We don’t have enough evidence to pin the blame on anyone but it is starting to look like someone is doing these things on purpose."

The cause of the fire has not been established.