LOCAL garage boss Neil Poyner will quit his business at Newnham on Severn puzzled, angry and distraught by the fire bomb attack on his premises in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The fire ripped through the former coach house at the rear of Victoria Garage. The building was gutted, three cars destroyed and a classic Jenson, in bits awaiting restoration, was ruined.
Mr Poyner said the fire rounded off six months of misery for his business.
"There was a time when if a hub cap went missing it was a major event in Newnham. Now vandalism is taken for granted. Every night we have to take all the best cars off the forecourt because of the risk of damage. We have had windows broken and now this ... it is a nightmare," he said.
Mr Poyner has traded from the Victoria Garage for 17 years.
"I can't understand why anyone would want to do this, but I have to say it could have been so much worse. If the wind had changed direction the main garage and even the Victoria Hotel might have gone up. The consequences of that would have been dreadful," he said.
The fire was spotted around 2.15am and quickly took hold. Guests staying at the adjoining Victoria Hotel had to be evacuated.
Mr Poyner said it appeared there were two seats of fire – in a car and at a spot which indicated something had been thrown in.
"Just like the building, I'm gutted. You would never expect anything like this to happen in Newnham and we just don't know what we will do now. I will certainly be closing the business," he said.