A MOTORWAY service station destroyed by fire almost a year ago has risen from the ashes.

Last April’s blaze at Cherwell Valley Services, off junction 10 of the M40, at Ardley, near Bicester, was one of the biggest fires the county had seen for years.

The entire Moto centre was destroyed and since then has been housed in a 3,000 sq ft temporary building.

But yesterday staff celebrated a traditional topping out ceremony, which marks when the highest point of a structure is in place.

Managers said the new £13m energy efficient building is on target to open at the end of June.

Site manager Jeff Parfrey expects 20 jobs to be created between now and when new building officially opens.

The services currently employ about 140 full and part time staff.

Moto’s chief executive officer Tim Moss said six hours after the blaze started he was looking at drawings of a new building.

He said: “About 11 months ago we got the news of a fire at Cherwell Valley Services.

“It became clear very quickly the building was doomed.

“We actually had the first drawings or plans of what a new Cherwell Valley Services building was likely to look like within six hours of the fire starting.

“The reason for that was the focus of the team involved.

“For people working around the site, many who had worked there for 20 years, it was a traumatic and emotional experience to see your place of work go up in smoke and there was the worry whether they will have a job.

“We wanted people to focus on the future and a new building rising out of the ashes.”

The fire started in a plant room that housed electrical wiring and boilers.

At its peak, more than 120 firefighters from across Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties battled the blaze.

More than 200 people had to be evacuated, including 70 staff.

Moto’s old service station was built in 1992/93 and was the first to open on the M40. The wrecked building was demolished last summer and work to rebuild it started in October.

The 3,980 sq ft new building is about 70 per cent more energy efficient and includes eco features such as a woodchip biomass boiler plant which will provide about 80 per cent of its heat.

Among the shops confirmed in the new building are Costa Coffee, Burger King, WH Smith and Marks & Spencer.