A MOTHER and son are praying for a "fairy godmother" to help revive their dreams of opening a social club.

Freda Gilmore and her son Stephen Winner are hoping to sell the fire-damaged building housing the KO's Social Club in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, for £45,000, after it was wrecked in an arson attack.

The pair had worked for four and a half years and held scores of fundraising events to raise enough money to create the family orientated club.

But arsonists destroyed their dream hours before it was due to open at the weekend and the pair were not insured.

"We just want a benefactor - a fairy godmother - to come along and buy it, so we can sell it and start again with something," said Mrs Gilmore.

She and Mr Winner began by holding car boot sales, then collecting, restoring and selling second-hand furniture.

They bought a second-hand furniture shop and sold that with the sale financing their ambition to open a club.

"It has been blood, sweat and tears. Our hopes, dreams and aspirations have all gone because of a moron," said Mrs Gilmore.

The former church hall and amateur boxing club was only hours away from its official opening when arsonists broke in and set the building ablaze.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "The arson investigation unit are investigating. We are treating the incident as suspicious."

The family paid £27,000 for the building and invested £45,000 in it. Before the doors could open, more than 200 local people had signed up to be members.

"We worked like Trojans, saving as much as we could, to buy it. Four and a half years it took us. And everything was in place. It looked lovely: gorgeous. Now we are back to square one.

"It just rips the heart out of you," said Mrs Gilmore. "I wanted to put something back into the community. Grangetown is a depressed place.

"I grew up without two half pennies to rub together. But everybody in Grangetown mucks in together."