The company that bought a former Suffolk factory that caught fire this week owes more than £300,000 in unpaid business rates, documents have revealed.

Fire crews from across Suffolk and Essex were called to a blaze at the former Delphi Deisel Systems site in Newton Road at about 5.10pm on Tuesday.

On Wednesday police confirmed a boy, 14, had been arrested on suspicion of arson and bailed until July 6. 

Since the fire, calls have intensified for a new use to be found for the disused site, with some suggesting it is a safety risk left empty. 

A Babergh District Council spokesperson has since confirmed that Future Properties Industrial Ltd, the company that bought the site in 2020 after Delphi closed, owes hundreds of thousands in unpaid business rates. 

According to documents on Companies House, Future Properties Industrial Ltd entered voluntary liquidation in September 2023 with Martin Halligan, of Live Recoveries, named as liquidator. 

A statement of affairs from the time shows Future Properties Industrial Ltd owed four creditors more than £3 million in total.

Babergh council is listed as one of the creditors and is owed £318,528.44.

The authority also revealed it was in talks with the owner of the building in a bid to find a solution to the problems posed by the vacant property and to realise its potential in terms of providing job opportunities for local people.

A council spokesperson said: "We share the community’s concern about Tuesday’s fire at the former Delphi site, which reinforces the need for its future to be resolved as soon as possible.

“This site offers significant employment opportunities for Sudbury, and our officers have had recent discussions with the owner in the interests of finding potential solutions.

“We also recognise the problems with vandalism and criminal behaviour, and our community safety team has been liaising with local police, the owner and nearby businesses as a result.”

The council said it was making efforts to recover the unpaid business rates but was unable to comment further. 

Richard Marchinton, senior manager at liquidator Live Recoveries, said the Delphi site was not an asset of Future Properties Industrial Ltd (in liquidation) and therefore had no comment to make.

According to the land registry the registered owner of the site, which was valued to be worth more than £17m in 2022, is now Future Properties Holding Ltd based at Britannia Business Park in Burnley.

James Cartlidge, Conservative parliamentary candidate for South Suffolk, said: "I can imagine many people in the town will share my frustration at the lack of engagement we’ve had from the owners since the site was purchased from Delphi Deisel Systems, not replying to any of my letters.

"Whilst we cannot know exactly what caused the fire, it is clear that the state of ongoing idle use of this once thriving factory is in nobody’s interest.”

He added: "Whoever is elected MP for South Suffolk should make it a priority to sit down urgently with Babergh’s economic development department, and look at all the options to take this site forward in a way that benefits the town, rather than consigns it to continued risk and decay - as difficult as this can be with a non-responsive proprietor."