An Inverness go-karting track has been forced to close temporarily after a “deliberate” fire at Fairways Business Park last weekend.
Inverness Kart Raceway has today announced that they will be unable to open “for a time” while repair work gets under way.
Fire damage was caused to the entrance of the racetrack when a balaclava-clad man “deliberately” drove a car into nearby traders at the park last Saturday.
Numerous buildings were engulfed in flames, while the driver was seen fleeing the scene on foot towards Walter Scott Drive.
Now, Inverness Kart Raceway has shared an update saying time will be taken to “assess the damage” and “work to rebuild safely”.
However, in better news, their automotive apprenticeship programme involving primary school pupils will be unaffected in the meantime.
‘We are incredibly grateful no-one was harmed’
Their statement reads: “To our customers we can report that due to a fire at neighbouring business units, Inverness Kart Raceway has suffered fire damage to our entrance which means we are unable to operate and will be closed for a period whilst we assess the damage and work to rebuild safely.
“The good news is that we have access to much of the rest of the IKR unit which is undamaged and that means our Day1 Automotive Foundation Apprenticeship training programme, which has 100 young people attending weekly, will resume on Monday as normal.
“Our Day1 Primary 7 Personal Development Programme, which is also based at IKR and which teaches pupils the basic principles of mental health and personal development while preparing them for the transition to secondary school, is unfortunately having to be postponed for the moment but will be up and running again as soon as we have capacity.
“We are incredibly grateful that no one was hurt during the fire and we very much appreciate all the support already received from our customers, partners, and wider community during this time.
“Your encouragement and patience mean everything as we work towards getting your track back up and running. Thank you.
“Thank you for standing by us and watch this space for future news.”
Police hunt for driver of deliberate Inverness fire-raiser
Meanwhile, police are still on the hunt for the driver who caused the “deliberate” fire at Fairway Business Park.
The fire service sent six appliances to the scene and battled the blaze for more than three hours.
The Harry Gow Bakery, SJ Travel Centre, SJ Gifts, fishmongers Scottish Premium Seafood, hairdressers HFM and Hair Chic were all also destroyed in the fire.
Detectives are continuing to carry out door-to-door inquiries in their hunt for the culprit.
Detective Inspector Caroline MacKay said officers are “very keen” to speak to anyone who may have been in the Druid Temple area between 11.30pm and midnight on Saturday evening.
She said: “In particular, I would ask any road users there who have dash cam or recording equipment to check their footage.
“There may be images which could prove vital to our investigation.
“If you saw anything, or anyone, acting suspiciously then please do get in touch with us.”
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