Doncaster restaurant re-opens after major blaze - but now faces review over coronavirus crisis

But the Nur Indian restaurant in Doncaster is back open again after a major project to bring it back to life.

Nuru Niah admits it is a bad time to be re-opening his business as residents stay inside to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

He arrived at the restaurant on Edlington Lane, Edlington, on May 17 last year to discover the premises had been gutted by a blaze which it later turned out had been caused by an electrical problem in the kitchen. At the time he said the main blessing was that no one was injured in the fire.

The venue was opened again on Monday for the first time after rebuilding, although Nuru says he is reviewing arrangements daily and may start running takeaways only because of concerns over the spread of Covid 19.

He said: “It was very difficult after the fire, because it was completely unexpected. The business is something I had worked towards all my life, and I just didn’t know what was going to happen after the fire.

“It was the hardest time of my life.”

He said the support of the community kept him going, and he was going to give the takings from Monday’s opening night to a local charity, which is still to be decided.

He has also extended the building to hold 48 people, as it now takes up what was previously two buildings.

The restaurant is currently busy, but he is looking at reviewing whether to stay open for sit down meals on Sunday, and will continue to review the situation. An alternative may be to sell takeaways.

“It is the hardest time to be opening again,” said Nuru. “It is a bad situation, but we can’t change that. All we can do is try to smile and to make other people smile.

“We had originally hoped to open in January, but we hit problems. We had to open now financially.”

He said he thought looking after people’s health was the most important thing at present.