A FAMILY business could close after losing a £100,000 contract following a fire which ripped through the mill where it was based.

The crisis was revealed as the owners of the rented premises counted the cost of having no insurance for the property.

One of the Orion industrial units, in Emerald Street, Brownhill, Blackburn, was gutted in an arson attack at 3.30am on Wednesday.

The unit was leased by Slater's wood turners, and today the owner Gary Slater, 29, said: "Even now I am still in shock.

"To think that all our hard work to build up the business has been a waste of time is sickening.

"We are insured but it is just like if there had been a fire at home, there are some things that can never be replaced."

The family business, which employs five staff, had been working from the unit for 12 months, prior to that they were based in Wigan.

Mr Slater's brother and joint owner, Craig, 28, heard the news on local radio while he was driving to the mill.

Mr Slater, his brother and Chris Sumner, 39, who manages the business, must now decide the future of the company that supplied furniture to the likes of DFS. He said: "A contract worth £100,000 will lost because the buyers can't wait for us to sort ourselves out.

"We need to decide whether it is worth starting it up again on a smaller scale and try to build it all back up again but we are still in shock and so it is too early to come to any decision."

Usman Musa, 45, one of four owners of the units at a mill said one partner forgot to renew insurance documents and the arson attack could cost them around £40,000.

Mr Musa, of The Coppice, Blackburn, also owns a fire protection business in Challenge Way, Blackburn.

He said: "We have learnt a big lesson. It was a family investment so we have to just take it on the chin. No words can really describe how upset we are. It is a bad day for us. It knocks you for six.

"It was meant to be our retirement cash so we have lost a lot of money. It is a genuine slip up and we have to await structural engineers' reports."

Insurance and building inspectors were at the mill today to ascertain the damage, but the landlords have told Mr Slater that they planned to pull down the building for safety reasons.