A MALVERN trader is counting her lucky stars that her business avoided serious damage when a fire broke out on New Year’s Eve.

Firefighters were called out to Bricycles, 271 Worcester Road, Malvern Link, after a passer-by noticed the shop was filled with smoke.

The call came just after 7pm, and two fire engines from the nearby Malvern fire station were on the scene within minutes.

Worcester Road was closed while firefighters wearing breathing apparatus broke through windows and the door to gain access to the shop.

They found the smoke had originated from a fire in a metal bin. The fire was restricted to the bin and damage to the premises was confined to smokelogging.

Tanya Trotman, of Bricycles, said: “Someone had emptied cinders from a woodburning stove into a bin, and that had set some tyre offcuts alight.

“It looked very bad at first, and I thought I was watching our business go up in smoke. The room was full of bikes, tyres and so on, and it could have been a disaster.

But we were lucky and it wasn’t so bad.

“We’re very grateful to the person who phoned when they saw the shop filled with smoke. If they’ve got a bike and it needs repairs, we’ll be happy to do it free.”

After some cleaning and repairs to the shopfront where the fire crews broke in, Bricycles was expected to re-open today.

Bricycles, which was founded in 2010, is a social enterprise set up to promote cycling by collecting unwanted bikes, repairing and recycling them.