Bilston company seeks £23m in damages after fire

Wednesbury Copper Tube, previously trading as Mueller Europe, was wrecked by the blaze in 2008. The fire at the copper tubing factory was sparked by gas heaters which ignited a scaffolding deck that had been put up by contractors carrying out re-roofing works.

Central Roofing South Wales Ltd is on the receiving end of Mueller's claim for £23m damages.

This includes just under £10m for reinstating the factory, the £8m cost of new equipment and a business interruption claim of around another £5m.

After a preliminary hearing at London's High Court, Mr Justice Coulson said it was Mueller's case that Central Roofing failed to identify the gas heaters as a fire hazard or to isolate them.

The Welsh company faces claims that the scaffold deck was less than a metre away from the heaters and that a fire was "all but inevitable".

However, Bridgend-based Central Roofing is contesting the claim, also raising "a number of issues by way of contributory negligence", said the judge.

A trial of the dispute is due to start at the High Court on January 13. More than 100 firefighters battled to contain the blaze, which ripped through the factory and destroyed the new roof.

The fire was discovered in a large single-storey unit, which contained tons of copper pipes, near the Vulcan Street entrance where contractors were replacing an asbestos roof.

Fire crews used an hydraulic platform to fight the flames from above and an emergency decontamination unit was set up because of the risk from air-borne asbestos.

No-one was working in the factory at the time.

Last year Mueller announced it was investing £2 million in the creation of a new production line to boost trade and provide jobs.