Fire at animal charity shop

Clothes and other material donated to the animal charity shop in St Paul’s Bay were destroyed in a fire which broke out early yesterday morning.

The façade of the shop and a secondary door were also extensively damaged by the blaze, which is being investigated by the police.

It is not known how the fire started.

Volunteer Vivien Buckley Palmer said a neighbour hosed the fire down at around 5 a.m. and later it took eight charity shop volunteers around six hours to clean up the mess.

“It’s going to cost us a lot of money to repair the damage,” Ms Buckley Palmer said, appealing to the public to lend a helping hand.

The charity shop, run by volunteers, donates the money it makes to some 15 people to feed stray cats. It also helps people with their veterinary bills and animal neutering. Ms Buckley Palmer may be contacted on 2158 0227.