Inverness Kart Raceway and Day1 mentoring charity puts brakes on some activities temporarily after damage resulting from Fairways Business Park blaze
An award-winning indoor kart racing track in Inverness has been forced to close after fire damage resulting from a major police incident.
Inverness Kart Raceway at Fairways Business Park will remain temporarily shut until damage to its front entrance is repaired.
Some of its activities organised by the associated social enterprise charitable arm Day1 will also be paused, although some are unaffected.
Last Saturday at around midnight, several nearby business premises were completely destroyed by a blaze started deliberately after an unknown culprit reversed a car into a shop frontage then set light to the building.
Police Scotland are continuing investigations into the malicious act of wilful fire-raising.
A spokesman for Inverness Kart Raceway tonight informed customers and Day1 participants of the situation, posting: “To our customers, we can report that due to a fire at neighbouring business units, Inverness Kart Raceway has suffered fire damage to our entrance which means we are unable to operate.
“(We) will be closed for a period while we assess the damage and work to rebuild safely.
“The good news is that we have access to much of the rest of the IKR unit which is undamaged and that means our Day1 Automotive Foundation Apprenticeship training programme, which has 100 young people attending weekly, will resume on Monday as normal.
“Our Day1 Primary 7 Personal Development Programme, which is also based at IKR and which teaches pupils the basic principles of mental health and personal development while preparing them for the transition to secondary school, is unfortunately having to be postponed for the moment but will be up and running again as soon as we have capacity.”
Day1 has been lauded for excellence in youth mentoring and, in November 2023, received a visit from royal couple Kate and William in recognition of the impact of its work on young lives.
The spokesman added: “We are incredibly grateful that no one was hurt during the fire and we very much appreciate all the support already received from our customers, partners, and wider community during this time.
“Your encouragement and patience mean everything as we work towards getting your track back up and running.”
The kart raceway and social enterprise are promising to keep users up to date with developments as they return to normal, while directing enquiries to email Manager@invernesskartraceway.co.uk.
