Contractors rally to rebuild Croydon

The chief executive of Croydon council has paid tribute to contractors including Mansell and Mears for “rallying round” to provide help to clean up the borough following the extensive rioting and arson on Monday night.

Chief executive Jon Rouse said contractors on Croydon’s framework had immediately contacted the council to offer their support to help in either demolishing damaged buildings or rebuilding areas affected by the wave of disruption. “Mansell immediately called and offered up its support and help. Mears and the others on our framework too. The industry has really rallied round to support us, it’s a credit to our contractors.”

Croydon was one of the worst affected areas by a night of rioting in the capital, Birmingham and Liverpool. The biggest blaze of the night occurred at the Reeves furniture store in Croydon, a 140-year old family run business which was burnt to the ground.

Rouse said the council was still assessing the extent of the damage to property in the borough, but he added that police had successfully protected major commercial and municipal property in the city centre. “The vast vast majority of properties affected by this are in private ownership. The buildings badly damaged are principally small businesses, a large furniture store and a branch of [supermarket chain] LIDL.

“We have our loss adjustors working with those affected now to assess the scale of the damage.”

The fires also damamged the cabling on Croydon’s tram network between Wandle Park and East Croydon, shutting that part of the line. Rouse said Transport for London had not yet clarified how long the line will be down for or how much it will cost to repair.