THE boss of the firm whose premises were severely damaged in a huge blaze said he has been left devastated by the incident.

Daly Plastics' premises on the Horwich Loco Works site were destroyed in a huge fire yesterday.

Simon Daly founded Daly Plastics with his brother Phillip in 2010 and said things were going so well that they were considering expansion.

Mr Daly, who employs seven people, will be working with fire investigation experts and insurance bosses to get his firm back on track.

Daly Plastics rents two units at the Loco Works.

It recycles existing plastic products into new ones and has 10 regular customers in Bury, Preston and other areas in the North West.

Mr Daly added: “We started the firm after some of us were made redundant from a firm in Leigh. My family have been in the plastics business since 1988 and it is our craft.

“We started this business with £15,000 and have built it up.

“It was only on Wednesday that we were looking at getting hold of a new extruder so we could expand.

“Our workers have been very loyal to us and we will try to do the right thing by them and our customers too. Now we will have to handle the insurance and it will be four to six weeks before we are back on our feet.”