FIREfighters are not ruling out arson after a blaze threatened to engulf a printing firm in Chesham last weekend.

The fire badly damaged the warehouse of Derek Croxson Ltd in Moor Road, on Saturday, July 9, and it could have consumed a nearby factory, also belonging to the company.

Fire crews from Amersham and Beaconsfield were called to the scene at 4.36am after three print workers on the night shift noticed the warehouse had caught fire.

They were in the nearby factory on the site, which is subject to redevelopment, but is still being partly used.

In total, 17 firefighters attended the scene. They stopped the fire spreading into the factory, which houses printing presses worth up to £2million.

Peter Wright, managing director for the company, praised the firefighters.

He said: "They got there soon enough to fight it back. It got into the factory by about a metre, but if it had been five minutes later we would have lost the lot."

Fifty to 80 tonnes of printed brochures and material were consumed in the warehouse, which was being used to store finished print jobs.

Twenty per cent of the warehouse was damaged according to fire officers, and some scaffolding also caught fire.

The company opened for business as normal on Monday where Mr Wright said their print jobs would be set back as a result.

The fire was fully extinguished by 7.17am.

Fire officer, Dave Miller, said: "We can safely say arson has not been ruled out."