The owners of Roots Garden Centre in Hermitage near Thatcham, Berks, have been forced to close their business after a suspected arson during the early hours of Monday morning.

Fire crews were called at 3am to the centre in Priors Court Road, Hermitage.

Owners, Mark Etwell and his wife Jackie were asleep at their Newbury home as the fire raged and were shocked to discover several messages on their mobile telephones when they woke up.

“We are devastated,” said Mrs Etwell. “We are a family business trying to make an honest living."

A porch at the garden centre was completely destroyed and the café was estimated to have around 25% smoke damage.

Mr Etwell said they were uninsured and the damage would run into tens of thousands of pounds.

He said he and his wife were “determined not to allow this to break us,” and had started a clean-up operation at the café, regularly used for community events, such as table top sales.

“We started sweeping the soot off the wall and you can see the paint, but it will need completely redecorating and rewiring – it’s a lot of work,” he said, adding they had received some offers of help from local people.

Mr Etwell, who said they hoped to re-open in mid-January, said security would be stepped up at the garden centre, with someone living on site with dogs, to add to the existing CCTV security system.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman, Rhianne Pope, confirmed police were called to the fire at 3.29am and were treating the incident as a suspected arson.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact police on the non emergency telephone number, 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously, telephone 0800 555 111.