A CHARITY shop has been left devastated after an arson attack which gutted the recently refurbished building.

The Mind charity shop on Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, was gutted by a blaze which started after a wheelie bin was deliberately set alight.

“We are absolutely devastated,” said Alex Wood, regional manager for Mind. “I don’t know what we are going to do. Everything inside has been lost.

“We have just spent tens of thousands of pounds on a full refit.”

Firefighters tackled the blaze, which also spread to the Kowloon House Chinese takeaway and Linthorpe Balloons, for over an hour.

Three appliances from Middlesbrough and Thornaby fire stations attended the incident at 3.42am. Crews believe a delivery driver spotted the fire.

Watch manager at Middlesbrough Fire Station, Matty Stather said when they arrived firefighters “could not stand within two metres of the Mind shop because of the heat.”

He said: “We have made the decision that someone set fire to the wheelie bin deliberately. That doesn’t mean it was deliberately intended to spread to the shops.”

Cleveland Police officers stayed at the premises and noticed it started to smoulder again at about 8am. Fire crews returned to dampen down.