THE owner of a pie and mash shop destroyed in a shocking fire has vowed to build back on her own and pass all donations collected to help her charity.

Sarah-Nadine Johnson, owner of East-Enders Pie and Mash in Wickford, just behind the Duke Pub in the High Street, has thanked those who donated to her after the fire that left her with nothing.

Ms Johnson is determined to build back from the devastation of the fire which was caused by an electrical fault.

All currently received donations will be given to the Royal British Legion which Ms Johnson has said “is close to her family.”

She said: “I started from scratch anyway which was so tough, but we were able to do back then, we need to try and start again.

“Today we start the clean-up and assess the damages and we are so lucky a lot of customers are so incredibly helpful, we have builders, tilers and people saying they can help us.

“We can get some quotes on how much it will take to get it sorted; we aren’t on our own, but it is a mixed bag of emotions.”

Another motivation for the business to avoid looking online for help is a mixed response to a fundraiser created by a customer.

It led to scepticism about the businesses’ inability to claim on insurance.

Ms Johnson added: “It is extremely frustrating for people to question if we are happy it happened I am absolutely devastated and my main concern is all the people we let down.

“I am dreading the clean-up, we have tried to avoid being down there and I think it will bring up a lot of emotions seeing the damage.

“Some of it will look worse than it is and we need to focus on how we build back.

“I am starting to feel more positive about the future though and once we get our hands dirty and see if anything is salvageable, even a good clean, would make me feel better.”