A North East business owner has spoken of devastation after her takeout food company was hit by a suspected arson attack.
Andrea Oliver, owner of The Twisted Apron, a takeout food and catering company in Washington, has been left totally distraught after a fire broke out at her unit in the early hours of Friday (September 23) last week.
Fire crews managed to put out the blaze, but the shop has been left with bad smoke and fire damage, and Andrea has been forced to close until the unit can be fully cleaned and refitted.
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Andrea, 45, told The Northern Echo: “It was such a shock – the shop has been totally devastated.
“One of the guys from another unit rang me on Friday morning saying I needed to get down and that the fire brigade was here putting out a fire.
“They had cut all the shutters off and smashed the windows to get in, but there’s lots of damage inside from the fire and smoke. We’re having to gut the place.
“We’ve got insurance which covers the building but it doesn’t cover all of the catering equipment. I think it's going to cost us about £20,000 including loss of earnings to get back on our feet.
“This place is mine and my son-in-law’s livelihoods, it’s just horrendous.”
The Twisted Apron has been operating from the site on Swan Road, Washington, since Andrea started the company four and a half years ago.
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A GoFundMe fundraiser has also now been set up to help Andrea get the business back open.
Police are now investigating the fire and are treating it as a suspected arson attack.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “At 6.30am on Friday (September 23) we were alerted by the fire service to a fire at an address on Swan Road, Washington.
“Emergency services attended the scene and the fire was extinguished. Nobody was injured.
“Enquiries are ongoing with the fire service to ascertain the cause of the fire. At this stage, it is being treated as suspected arson.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20220923-0136.”
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson added: "On Friday (September 23 ) morning our fire control received a call about a fire at commercial premises in Washington.
"Two appliances, one from Washington and one from Marley Park, were on the scene in a matter of minutes to extinguish the fire.
"Thankfully no one was injured and our crews left the scene at 6:43am.
"We believe this fire was started deliberately and are supporting Northumbria Police in their investigation.
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