Fire wreck museum demolished

The building will be demolished and rebuilt within two years

Bulldozers are demolishing the burnt out shell of the National Motorcycle Museum.

The machines moved in on Monday following a devastating fire which destroyed much of the world famous collection and caused damage put at £14m.

Flames, caused by a discarded cigarette, ripped through the five halls of the museum at Bickenhill in Solihull on 16 September.

Only 250 of the 900 bikes on display survived but the museum's owner Roy Richards vowed to reopen the museum on the same site within two years.

He said: "The emotions after the fire are fading and it's now ultimate determination to get back to where we were.

"We will reopen on 1 December 2004."

Fire ripped through the building

Mr Richards said he was now working to secure new exhibits for the collection but admitted that many were "one-offs" which could never be replaced.

However, he said he was sure the museum would reopen with at least 400 bikes on show.

The new museum will be built by the same contractor that worked on the original building 19 years ago.

Martin Byrne said it was ironic that he would be working on the replacement and said: "We hope to have everything up and running in 70 weeks."

The museum was founded as a permanent reminder of the days when the UK had a thriving motorcycle industry.