Fix Auto Huntingdon owner Phil Whitaker is driving ahead with plans to open a completely new repair centre after the original site was totally destroyed by arsonists in September.

Whitaker has vowed to create a new facility almost three times the size of his original bodyshop as he looks to rebuild his business following the attack.

Whitaker said: “I’m not one to sit back and let things take their course. I said at the time that as devastating as it was, I would not let the arson attack deter me and my business from doing what we do best, and that’s providing a first class service.”

The Cambridgeshire-based businessman has leased a 24,000 sq ft unit less than four miles from his previous centre and work is well underway in transforming it into a state-of-the-art bodyshop with the capacity to repair up to 75 vehicles a week.

The new site will operate alongside his established Fix Auto repair centres in Spalding and Peterborough. Plans are also afoot to develop a fourth site within his region.

If all goes to schedule, initially around 35 vehicles a week will be repaired from the new site by the end of March.

Whitaker added: “It’s fair to say I was glad to see the back of 2016 but what we are trying to achieve – from taking the business that was devastated by arsonists in September to opening a brand new centre in what should be six months - is a monumental achievement made possible by the support I have been given from within my team.”