AN arson attack has cost a Hampshire charity shop thousands.

The Stubbington Green branch of Sue Ryder was left severely damaged after the blaze over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Now staff are appealing for donations from the public to replenish their stock.

Two industrial bins at the back of the premises on Stubbington Green were set alight just before 3am on Saturday, May 28, causing the glass in the back window and door to shatter and leaving the back of the shop, which contained hundreds of pounds worth of stock, badly damaged by smoke.

Shop manager Claire Golding-Smith said: “I am so shocked, it’s simply awful that somebody can do this, particularly to a charity.”

“We have had to close for three days to clean up after the incident but a lot of our stock – generously donated by the public – was destroyed.

“In all my time as the shop manager, this is the first time something like this has happened and I hope that the people responsible are found.”

The shop has been trading in Stubbington for nine years, raising funds for the charity’s neurological and hospice care across the UK.

Councillor Chris Wood, councillor for Stubbington on Fareham Borough Council, said: “It’s disgusting behaviour aimed at people who do fantastic work for our local community.”

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “No arrests have been made

and we ask that anybody who has any information to come forward.”

Anybody with information on the incident should contact Hampshire police on 101 quoting reference 44170200907.