The Warren Trading Company premises – open for only a year – was gutted early on Sunday morning after flames ripped through it, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds' damage.

The fire, which police believe to be arson, was started in a wheelie bin at the back of the property and worked its way into the building.

The inferno burnt for nine hours and fire crews had to carry some equipment 150 metres because fire appliances were too big to get under the bridge.

Ten appliances from all over the area – from as far as moretonhampstead and Torquay – two water carriers, an incident command vehicle, an incident support unit, two four-wheel drive vehicles and some 75 personnel battled the bank holiday blaze.

The Warren, so popular at this time of year, was closed all day Sunday as mopping up operations began, but reopened on Monday.

Simon Broom, managing director of the Warren Trading Company, said: 'I first got a phone call from my alarm company saying that sensors had been activated in the shop.

'When I got to the shop I was met by the new Dawlish 4 x 4 fire appliance and a Bowiser who were trying to extinguish a fire at the back of the property.

'The flames somehow managed to work their way into the building and set fire to the stock inside. This took hold very quickly and the fire brigade tried to remove shutters from the front of the property but weren't able to so they used a vehicle to ram them down.

'Once the doors were open, and the fire crew had checked it out, it was realised that nothing could be done so they turned their hoses to nearby buildings to try to keep them cool.'

Speaking for Pinder Singh, owner of the business, Mr Broom said that his family were 'in a state of shock' and 'completely devastated' at what had happened.

Dawlish fire service sub-officer Dave williams – his men were first at the scene – said: 'When I arrived at about 12.30am, the fire had started to take hold of the building.

'When backup arrived we put on breathing apparatus and attempted to tackle the blaze inside.

'After a while we realised that due to its severity nothing could be done so we turned our hoses to nearby buildings to try and keep the heat from damaging them.'

Lisa Mayne, who owns Lisa's Beach Cafe, her husband Sam and children Amber, 15, and Sammi, 13, helped bring tea and coffee to everyone involved.

She said: 'We were very upset to see the building go and are very sorry for the family who have seen it go up in smoke.'

'They are a hard-working family and hopefully it will rise again soon.'

Nigel Cousins, managing director of the Boathouse pub, which is just yards from the outbreak, said that he thought he was very lucky.

Had firefighters not been there to cool the pub down then damage could have been severe.

'It was so hot that the signs hanging outside were melting because of the heat,' he said.

'I feel desperately sorry for Pinder and his family, who worked so hard to build the business, and as for the Warren, we will all pull together to get service back for the holidaymakers in the summer.'

Cllr Alan Connett, leader of Teignbridge Council, said: 'We all extend our sympathies to Mr Singh and would reassure him of our assistance in the future.

'We owe a very big thank you to the fire service, their emergency colleagues and to all the council staff who performed very well and worked very hard to get the beach and resort open again.'

Even though this was a serious setback, Mr Broom thought that Warren trading would be open again soon with some sort of premises

He would like to thank everybody who was there to support them.

LISA MAYNE, of Lisa's Takeaway, Dawlish Warren, writes:

Would you please thank the Teignbridge staff who worked continuously from just after midnight on sunday morning until the Warren was re-opened at 8am on Monday. Particularly Peter Haydon, the beach manager who, after finishing work after a full day on Saturday teatime, returned after being called by the fire service at 12.30am on sunday morning and worked until 10.30pm that evening, and returned at the crack of dawn on Monday morning.

Also Tracey Hicks who, I believe, is resort manager, who put in just as many hours over and above the call of duty.

Also the hands on Teignbridge staff from Dawlish Warren were all excellent.

Finally, the fire crews were absolutely fantastic.