A CAR dealer has offered an amazing reward in a bid to trap the arsonists who torched his garage - a free car.

Southampton-based Swipe N Drive suffered £30,000 damage when a fire gutted its office and destroyed five cars.

Now, director Michael Catherin has offered a car off his forecourt to catch the firebugs.

"We've decided to offer a car as a reward. It would mean free motoring for anybody who gives information that leads to conviction.

"We'd be talking about a modest car but it might just do the trick to make people come forward.''

He said the fire was a real blow to the Paynes Road firm, in Freemantle, which only started trading 14 months ago.

"It will affect us terribly. A lot of the cars we sell are for Christmas presents and we have lost five.

"But what is just as bad as losing the cars, our major downfall is losing all the paperwork and invoices in the office. All our cars had service histories but they were kept in the office. Without them the value can be cut in half.

"Around 18 cars were unaffected by the fire but it will be hard work to sell them now without the paperwork.

"We've been racking our brains trying to think who would want to do this. To our knowledge we have no enemies and all our customers have been happy. I could 99.9 per cent rule out the idea of it being a disgruntled client.''

But he added: "We're not the type to sit round and cry about it. We've had a lot of support from the local commuunity and we will carry on trading, selling good cars at cheap prices."

Detectives investigating the blaze have urged four or five teenagers seen in the area at the time of the blaze to come forward.

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