DEMOLITION works on Douglas Village Shopping Centre will begin next week as management seek to establish how soon the centre can reopen.

It is unclear how much of the building will be demolished and traders have not been given any indication of a timeframe for when the centre will return to trading following a fire last Saturday evening.

It is believed a car fire caused the structural damage and damage to 60 other cars in the car park of the centre.

An email from management to traders has outlined that the “structural integrity” of the car park has been affected and will need to be torn down.

“Due to the intense nature of the fire, the structural integrity of the affected area has been compromised and needs to be demolished for safety reasons as soon as possible," the email stated.

“Our team of consultants have instructed us that access to the centre will not be safe until demolition is complete.”

Management said they intend to proceed with this work as “fast as possible” and the ESB will cut power to the centre and all stores.

“We do not yet know the full scope and hence duration of the demolition phase and we hope to have much firmer information as demolition progresses." the email added.

Speaking after a meeting with management, John Neville, of Neville’s Jewellers said there is widespread disappointment among traders and that he will work to redeploy his staff to the other stores across Cork.

“It’s very difficult for everyone at the moment.

“For those businesses that have one store and it’s located in the centre, it’s extremely difficult news to get,” he added.

It has been revealed that Joda Engineering, a Cork-based company, has been leading the structural assessment of the car park.

There are still around 170 cars in the car park that have to be returned to their owners.

Around 60 are believed to be damaged with around 50 completely burnt out.