Nursery fire destroys aid convoy

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The owner of a nursery partly destroyed in an arson attack has appealed for help after goods collected for an aid convoy were also lost in the fire.

The blaze at Daisy Dell day nursery in Beaufort, Ebbw Vale, gutted a portable building opposite the main nursery premises, causing £50,000 of damage.

Toys, furniture and electrical equipment were lost in the fire as well items bound for a Croatian orphanage.

Owner Lesley Grubb said she was hoping someone could provide storage space.

Ms Grubb said the blaze, which was started early on Sunday morning, destroyed the toys and artwork of the 16 children who used the building.

They had been collecting toys, clothes, shoes and toiletries to donate to an orphanage in Kraljevica, Croatia.

A lorry is due to pick up the items and take them to the orphanage in August and Ms Grubb is hoping more donations will be made between now and then.

Nursery owner Lesley Grubb said the children were devastated by the fire

"What I am looking for is someone who can give us some storage so we can still potentially send out a lorry," said Ms Grubb.

"Not one item survived the fire. It is absolutely devastating."

"Why would anybody want to destroy anything which is child-orientated?

"The mindless vandals had no regard to the fact that the building was being used by children and everything inside the building and the building itself is lost.

"All the rubber play matting outside and an outside store with soft play equipment and sandpits were completely destroyed.

"The building and the contents for the nursery are insured but the items donated and collected by the children since January are irreplaceable."

Adopted

Ms Grubb said her nine-year-old daughter, who she adopted from the orphanage two years ago, was particularly angry and upset.

"These donations were going to be for her friends," she said.

Gwent Police said the fire was started deliberately at the side of the building before it spread inside.

Firefighters from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to the building at around 0330 BST on Sunday.

No arrests have yet been made but inquiries are ongoing, a police spokeswoman said.