A CHINESE restaurant which was drastically damaged in a fire is set to return to Halstead High Street within weeks.

Friends Chinese suffered severe damage to the building’s roof and interior after a chip pan fire on July 29 spread through the listed building, despite the best efforts of 30 firefighters.

Neighbours Riverside Fish and Chips and Age UK have also remained closed since the fire, with no form of repair work yet to begin on the three shopfronts.

But Friends owner Liang Hong is hoping his restaurant and takeaway will return in a matter of weeks after applying to reopen further up the High Street.

Mr Hong, who thanked the Halstead community for their support, has submitted an application for a premises license in the old Post Office site at 42 High Street.

He said: “From the feedback I have had it could be up to a year before any work even begins on the damaged buildings.

“They are waiting for insurance, but that is a very slow process, and me and my business do not have time to wait.

“No one really knows what is happening at the moment, they have been trying to determine liability since the fire.

“It has been a difficult time for me and the business, but I have just been trying to get Friends up and running again as soon as possible, that is all I want.

“Hopefully we will be up and running in a couple of weeks, and now it is all about getting back to normal, regaining our place on the High Street and recovering our losses.”

Mr Hong has put the whole scenario down to bad luck, but is hoping his luck is about to change with the potential reopening of Friends.

Turkish restaurant Lalezar was the last occupant of Friends potential new site, and Mr Hong is thrilled by the prospect of reopening on the High Street and hopefully regaining a large proportion of his customer base.

He said: “I am very lucky that this potential spot for the restaurant has been offered to me.

“The site has been empty for a year-and-a-half now, so I am lucky that the landlord will allow me to reopen Friends in that site.

“It is a fantastic spot, right in the middle of the high street, and hopefully by staying on the High Street we can retain a lot of our customers.

“This whole incident has been pretty unlucky for us.

“The chip pan which started the fire was only seven months old, that is unheard of.

“That is almost brand new, there is no reason why a seven month old chip pan should start a fire, that is hugely unlucky.

"My insurance doesn’t cover loss of income either. Hopefully we will get some payout, but the biggest loss is income and we will not get any money for that.

“I have had lots of help from the community as well, I want to thank everyone who has offered to help me and the business since the fire.”

The former Lalezar Turkish restaurant had been lined up by St Helena Hospice as an alternative High Street base, before the charity withdrew from the deal.