THE owner of a metal recycling company said a fire which broke out underneath the M1 in Mill Hill has cost him around £40,000 in damages.

Terry Mizon has been clearing the remains of his yard at Apex Metal Recycling in Ellesmere Avenue which was engulfed by the blaze at around 4am on Friday.

About one third of the metal recycling yard, which is situated just before the M1, has been destroyed including fencing, a steel cabin,industrial scales used for weighing scrap metal and a wooden canopy which burnt down in the blaze.

A skip yard beneath the bridge was also destroyed in the fire which is thought to have been detected and reported by a man working there in the early hours.

London Fire Brigade has said it believes the fire “was started deliberately” and police are currently investigating the incident.

Mr Mizon, who thinks the fire was an arson attack, said: “At first I thought it might have been a rival yard targeting us, but now I think it’s more likely to have been kids messing on.

“It seems the fire investigation team are pretty certain the fire started in our yard and dispersed to the skip yard which adjoins us and is under the bridge.

“Apparently fireworks were found in the alleyway and the guy who was working said he’d heard pops and bangs.”

Detectives are probing a link between the blaze in Ellesmere Avenue and an arson which destroyed a shelter in nearby Moat Mount Open Space at the same time.

Two pieces of play equipment in Edgwarebury Park, Edgware, were also torched in the early hours of Wednesday and Thursday.

However, proving arson might be difficult for police as the blaze, which may have burnt as hot as 5-600 degrees and destroyed concrete and metal rods, has destroyed most of the forensic evidence.

Mr Mizon said: “We’ll have to start from scratch but stuff like this doesn’t get me down, you’ve just got to keep going – It’s down to the police now.”

He added: “If anyone can provide information about who might have started the fire, we will be offering a £5,000 reward if the evidence leads to an arrest and conviction.”

Apex Car Breakers is opposite the metal recycling company and skip yard and was not involved in the fire.

Manager Ali Rehman said Apex Car Breakers in Ellesmere Avenue “was not affected by the fire” but said trade has been bad.

The business was forced to close completely for three days following the incident.

Mr Rehman said: “Thank god the fire didn’t reach us but we can still only access part of our site.

“We’re not getting as many customers as usual and we don’t know how long this will go on for.

“We’ve been here for over 20 years and we’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

Officers from Colindale Criminal Investigation Department are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.

No arrests have been made.

Witnesses or anyone with information that can assist the enquiry are asked to call 020 8733 4549 or can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.