Arsonists close charity shop

ARSONISTS have forced a Broadwater charity shop to close for the second time in 18 months.

The Sue Ryder shop, in Broadwater Boulevard, has been boarded up again after yobs broke in on Saturday morning and started two fires, which destroyed all the stock and severely damaged the inside of the building.

The fire was so intense, all the clothes hangers melted.

Regional manager Julie Beames told the Herald: "The two part-time managers and the volunteers who run the shop are devastated."

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Last January, the shop was closed for more than four months, after arsonists set fire to bags of donated items left in the doorway.

"When it happened before, a team of volunteers put their old clothes on and their rubber gloves and went in to wash things down and tidy up '“ but it is way beyond that this time," said Mrs Beames.

"The place needs to be totally stripped out."

Mrs Beames said she did not know how much the repairs would cost or how long the shop would be closed.

She told the Herald it would re-open eventually but security needed to be reviewed.

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"Maybe it is time for security cameras or a stronger police presence," she said.

"I can't comprehend people's thought processes to do something like this. We never keep money on the premises overnight, so there was no money to steal.

"Maybe that's why they started the fires, because they broke in and got fed up when they found there was nothing to steal."

A spokeswoman for the police said: "A person was seen to make off from the scene and get into a car that was then driven away.

"Currently, there seems to be no apparent reason for the arson. "

Detective Constable Kim Clinch, from Worthing CID, is appealing for anyone with any information to contact her on 0845 6070999.

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