A RESTAURANT owner whose premises were badly damaged by falling masonry, smoke and water has described the Drummond Mill fire as the worst thing to have hit his business in its 50-year history.

Liaqat Habib, owner of the Sweet Centre restaurant and cafe in Lumb Lane, Manningham, was left shocked when he took a look inside the building earlier this week.

The cafe ceiling has collapsed, the kitchen is full of water, a cellar wall has developed a crack and the main entrance to the restaurant has been shattered.

Mr Habib said he hoped that the smoke-damaged restaurant might be ready to reopen within three weeks but the cafe would take longer, possibly four weeks.

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However, he said it was not possible to talk about reopening dates with any confidence because he is still awaiting details from the insurance loss adjuster.

"The ceiling of the cafe has fallen down because of the water inside. We couldn't go inside for five days because the mill wall had fallen into the shop - I couldn't believe it."

Mr Habib, who took over the business from his father in 2000, said the view from the restaurant tables had changed forever.

"The view will be open fields now," he said. "That mill has protected us from the weather since my father started the business 51 years ago."

He said it would take "some time" before the business was back to where it was before the blaze, which destroyed Drummond Mill.

"When something closes down, customers don't know what is happening. When we open up, some people won't know."

He added: "This has been the worst thing that has happened to us in our 50 year history."

Mr Habib has been inundated with messages from customers.

This weekend he is hoping to open a food outlet serving breakfasts from a function room behind the Barracks Tavern pub in Lumb Lane.

Mr Habib's son, Haroon, said his father was upset by what had happened.

"He is more concerned about keeping his customers happy than anything else. We have been getting a lot of phone calls asking when we are going to be open. We can't really tell them when we are going to open."

Barracks Tavern landlady Carol Marshall said the pub had reopened Monday afternoon and business was picking up.

"Luckily for me the business is now up and running. It has been a bit quiet as a lot of people don't know that we are open."

She said Bradford-born friends in the United States had been in touch to say how devastated they are about the destruction of Drummond Mill.

"They are all upset and devastated. I have sent them photos to keep them informed. Now, when I open up the pub I can see that the mill has gone. It's upsetting really. Some of my customers used to work there and they are devastated."