Leigh Park tattoo parlour wrecked for second time in 15 months after flat above caught fire

JUST 24 hours after the birth of his new baby boy, Danny Silvester received a call to say the flat above his tattoo studio was on fire.
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Firefighters were called to a bedroom blaze at a first-floor property in Greywell Shopping Centre, Leigh Park at 7.38am on Wednesday.

A man and woman were taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital by South Central Ambulance Service to receive treatment for smoke inhalation.

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When Danny arrived to assess the damage at his parlour, Inklusive Tattoos, water used to put the fire out had brought the ceiling down and wrecked his studio.

Pictured is: Danny Silvester amongst the damage caused to his tattoo parlour by the fire in the above flat.

Picture: Keith Woodland (270719-4)Pictured is: Danny Silvester amongst the damage caused to his tattoo parlour by the fire in the above flat.

Picture: Keith Woodland (270719-4)
Pictured is: Danny Silvester amongst the damage caused to his tattoo parlour by the fire in the above flat. Picture: Keith Woodland (270719-4)

The 29-year-old said: ‘I had turned my phone off because I wanted to spend time with my new son but when I turned it back on I had loads of messages about the fire.

‘When I saw the damage I just didn’t know what to say. The water they had used to put it out had all come through the ceiling and it was all coming down.

‘I had been in such a happy mood and then this just brought me right down.’

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It comes after the same flat above his studio had a flood last year - also causing damage to the studio, which he opened nearly three years ago.

Caption: A still from a video captured by Richard Murphy of a fire in a first-floor flat at Greywell Shopping Centre, Leigh Park, on Wednesday, July 24. Caption: A still from a video captured by Richard Murphy of a fire in a first-floor flat at Greywell Shopping Centre, Leigh Park, on Wednesday, July 24.
Caption: A still from a video captured by Richard Murphy of a fire in a first-floor flat at Greywell Shopping Centre, Leigh Park, on Wednesday, July 24.

The father-of-three said: ‘Last year I got a phone call from a friend saying the water pipe in the flat above me, the one that caught fire, had burst.

‘Luckily that time it missed all the equipment and I just had to do a bit of redecorating but this time it has got all over my equipment and ruined it.

‘Now I am waiting for my insurance claim to come through but I have managed to get a cheap tattoo machine and the hairdressers over the road, Gatsbys, has offered me one of their rooms which is really nice.’

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His sister has now set up a Go Fund Me page to help his business get back on its feet.

Danny said: ‘I didn’t even know she had done it but she set it up for £500 just to help me get back on my feet.

‘It is so nice that friends and family have helped me so much.’

Passer-by Richard Murphy saw huge flames and thick smoke billowing into Greywell Road as the fire took hold.

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