More than 75 firefighters battled to save a retail complex but were unable to rescue two units which were destroyed by fire.

The two large units - Dunelm Mill and Dreams – were destroyed by fire, with Dunelm suffering a partial collapse. The incident happened at the Orchard Retail Park, London Road in Coventry at just after 4.45am on Thursday 6 October.

The firefighters with supporting crews and specialist appliances including two hydraulic platforms attended the scene. The fire was under control at just before 9.45am with firefighters revisiting the scene to dampen down hotspots.

A number of retail units on the single-storey site are made of traditional brick construction with metal roofing. Neighbouring retail units, Currys, PC World, and Carpetright suffered 10 per cent smoke damage.

Speaking at the scene of the incident, Vij Randeniya, chief fire officer for the West Midlands said:

“At a time when we face unprecedented cuts in our budget from central government, it is going to become increasingly difficult for us to respond to such large-scale incidents like this in this way.”

West Midlands fire service added that while currently there is no compulsion for private sector organisations to fit sprinklers in such premises, in what was a 'resource hungry' incident, sprinklers could so easily have prevented such severe fire damage.

West Midlands Police is investigating the incident, which has been declared as suspected arson.