A SHOP that was destroyed in an arson attack last year has reopened its doors.

But Raj Suresh, the owner of Boughton Stores, said he was nervous about returning to his former home after his family were forced to flee from the blaze in the middle of the night on August 11 last year.

The convenience store on Bromyard Road in St John’s, Worcester, was left badly damaged in the blaze, which tore through the shop at around 1.30am, also destroying Mr Suresh’s car and three cars belonging to the Hylton Nissan dealership next door.

At the time of the fire, Mr Suresh – who previously lived above the shop with his father-in-law, wife and their three children – told your Worcester News he had been woken by the sound of explosions and saw the flames rising outside the bathroom window.

Although the family escaped unharmed, Mr Suresh said they were “lucky to be alive”, adding that had they stayed in the house for another five minutes he was sure they would have died.

Steven Taylor of Buttermere Drive in Warndon, Worcester, was sentenced to four years in prison in February after being charged with arson with intent to endanger life following the fire.

The shop reopened yesterday and Mr Suresh says the time is right.

“There is still a lot to do and the outside of the shop isn’t finished but it’s pretty much ready to go inside, so it will be nice to see the old customers again,” he said.

“The local community has been very supportive.

“After the fire, many neighbours offered help. It’s been very nice to see people pull together. It’s taken a while to get up and running again but we are really looking forward to opening, and we will have a grand opening when everything is complete.

“I don’t know exactly how I feel about coming back here to live though.

"The fire was devastating. It’s fine being in the shop but I haven’t spent a night here yet, so I’ll have to see how that goes before we decide to move back in."