One hundred tons of timber valued at £150,000 were washed away and machinery was seriously damaged when floods ripped through Shipley Timber in the Spen Valley.
Owner Richard Abbey said the equivalent of six articulated wagon loads of stock were swept away, leaving the yard empty. Also lost was specialist timber brought in for a Hartlepool firm which is refitting a 15th century warship.
Mr Abbey said: ‘Our mill shop, which was under 6ft of water, is capable of machining 40ft-long 12×4 timber and not many shops can do that. We are going to have to strip all the machinery down and rebuild it with new motors and electrics.
‘It is a case of fighting our way back but my message to our customers – who have been very supportive – is stick with us and we will be back.’
Mr Abbey hopes the mill, which specialises in machining for importers such as Howarths and Barchards of Hull, will be fully operational by January.
