A SOUTHAMPTON furniture store is today counting the cost of a fire that ripped through the shop, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

DeeCee Upholstery in Portswood was badly damaged when 30ft flames tore through the company's on-site workshop and into one of the store's showrooms.

Initial estimates have put the damage at more than £15,000, with much of the damage caused by smoke which left scores of sofas and chairs undeliverable.

However, the company says that forward planning and the fortune of having much of its pre-sold products in one of the untouched store rooms has meant the situation is better than expected, with only five customers likely to be left without their new suites for Christmas.

Neighbours alerted the emergency service to the blaze after seeing flames pouring from the shop in Portswood Road shortly after 1.30am. An earlier attempt to alert the fire service by residents of a flat above the unharmed part of the shop failed after the fire burnt through the building's telephone lines. Three fire engines attended but the high amount of combustible material hampered attempts to get the blaze under control. The fire was eventually put out at 4.30am.

Derek Caplen, partner of DeeCee Upholstery, said: "The results of the fire are frightening to see.

"The whole back of the premises are just charred. We have a container out the back of the workshops in which we store fire retardant material, and although the material itself is fine, the container has just melted.

"Because of good house-keeping, we have managed to keep the damage to a minimum, but the really important thing is that only material goods have been lost, and not a life."