A SHOP owner is picking up the charred pieces of his livelihood after a fire caused more than £40,000 of damage to his business.

Colin Bauerfield has struggled to salvage anything from the blaze that tore through Drop Dead Gorgeous, in Queen Street, Gravesend, on Sunday.

Lingerie

The former computer engineer, who changed his career path to set up the lingerie and glamour-wear shop in October, is not sure he can salvage the business.

Mr Bauerfield spent £3,500 refurbishing the store when he moved in last October and said he had lost more than £40,000 worth of stock in the blaze.

A total of 20 firefighters from Thames-side, Dartford and Strood fire stations tackled the flames after they were called to the store at about 4.30pm.

Mr Bauerfield said: “I got a call from the landlord and all he said to me was ‘You better get down here, the shop’s on fire,’ and we just shot down there.

“This was my life and my dream.

“We spent a fortune on this place.

“Now I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m still in shock.”

The cause of the fire is not yet known but police are treating it as suspicious.

n If you have information that might help police with their inquiries, call the North Kent area crime unit on 01474 366098.