A HUSBAND and wife were forced to stand by helplessly as they watched the business they had spent 20 years building up from nothing go up in smoke.

Chris and Karan Main, owners of Main Pine Company, Green Hammerton, joined employees and firefighters to salvage as much furniture as they could from the burning building before being beaten back by flames knowing hundreds more items were inside fuelling the blaze.

The timber furniture factory caught fire after a generator apparently overheated and set alight a diesel tank at about 2pm yesterday.

Thirty workers fled to safety as the fire took hold.

Mrs Main said: "It just happened so quickly.

"People were working and some were in the canteen. I was in the office and somebody saw it and shouted 'fire'.

"We've had some lads trained up to use extinguishers, but it was beyond the type of fire you could put out yourself, so we came out and waited for the fire brigade.

"I held a roll call, but I was so shocked I had to get everyone to shout their names at me, and once I knew everyone was safe that was it."

Philip Braithwaite, who works for racehorse breeder Noel Hetherton next door to the factory, said: "The horses started going crackers when the roof started exploding. It sounded like guns going off."

A container, packed with furniture worth a five-figure sum, was dragged clear in the nick of time.

Assistant divisional fire officer John Swiers said the flames quickly spread through the roof space. About 40 per cent of the building was on fire when the 999 call was made.

As the ruined building still burned and asbestos roof sheeting crackled into the air, he said: ""We tried to stop the fire, but the construction made it difficult because it is timber with a void in the roof space."

Mr Main said: "Thankfully we have another workshop, but it's nowhere near as big and we're going to have to rebuild that one."

Mrs Main said: "We're both very determined people and we will build it up again as we did in the first place.

"I feel gutted, but luckily nobody was hurt."

Today the couple, whose business was insured, were positive about their plans to get up and running again as soon as they can.

Mr Main said: "We are starting to put the pieces together again as best we can and we will do our best to keep as many people in employment as possible.

"Obviously having no building makes it difficult, but we will do everything we can to get the business going again. We can't let our customers down."

Picture - THE AFTERMATH: Chris Main (right) looks over the burning remains of what was his furniture business at Green Hammerton with factory

foreman Cliff Potts after fire tore through the buildings Picture: Steven Bradshaw