Community spirit praised after 'devastating' fire at Axminster Arts Cafe

Axminster's community spirit has been praised following the "devastating" fire at the town's popular Arts Café yesterday (Monday).

Fire crews were called to Axminster Arts Café in Church Street at 1.12am yesterday morning. The café suffered 25% fire damage and there was 90% smoke damage to both the café and adjoining retail shop, The Courthouse Makers.

The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation.

The owners of the café, Jim and Hilary Reaney, did not hear about the fire until a member of staff opened up at 8.30am and discovered the damage.

After a busy day of assessing the damage and clearing up, the Axminster Arts Café team took to social media to thank all those who had offered support.

They said the fire had been devastating but their "spirits had been buoyed by the outpouring of support".

They added that thankfully no-one was hurt in the fire and they were working with the police and fire service to ascertain the cause. They were also looking at how they could restore the café to get it back up and running as soon as possible.

Since breaking the news of the fire yesterday morning, Axminster Nub News has been inundated with comments in support of the café, many volunteering to help with the clean-up.

Among those to comment was former Mayor of Axminster and East Devon district councillor Paul Hayward, who said: "Terrible news, especially for owners and staff. Hope damage can be sorted with minimum of delay and get the businesses re-opened."

County and district councillor Ian Hall added: "Take care and you will bounce back quickly."