BUSINESSES at a blaze-stricken Bradford mill have been trying to salvage goods before demolition work begins.

A definite demolition time has not been set as yet but it could be some time today once arrangements have been finalised between the Manchester-based owner of the four-storey Ivy Mills in Mill Lane, West Bowling.

Yesterday owners of businesses who had been operating from the mill were being contacted to have a last chance at salvaging anything that could be saved.

Imtiaz Khan, owner of H20 Auto Tint and Valet Centre, located on the ground floor, was one of them - he still had vehicles in there yesterday morning. He told the Telegraph & Argus that he was "devastated."

At its height, 12 fire crews were battling to bring the flames under control, after the fire broke out shortly before 8am on Saturday.

Roger Binns, watch commander at Bradford Fire Station, said the timing of the fire had meant the incident dragged on for much longer than it normally would have.

Crews from the station are still visiting the mill at regular intervals, he said: "We have been re-visiting the site to make sure it is fully extinguished and we will probably keep visiting over the next 24 hours.

"Going into the building has been very dangerous and has been done under strict supervision. There are only a few safe areas in the mill so it has been very limited in what we can do going in. Some of the business owners have been allowed in under supervision to see if anything is salvageable.

"The central part of the building has collapsed in on itself and some of the floors are just hanging there. It is in a very poor state. The fire affected the structure and the beams, and we have been very lucky the building hasn't collapsed.

"We have had a crew go back every few hours to make sure everything is still okay.

"Because it was over the bank holiday things have taken time. The emergency services and utility companies were there, but other people like insurance companies and individual people were not available. If it happened in the middle of the week everything would have been dealt with in about 24 hours. We did the best we could."

West Yorkshire Fire Service is still investigating the cause of the blaze.