Bangor: man arrested after fire at Action Cancer store

Updated 41 minutes ago

The extensive damage caused to a charity shop in County Down overnight has been described as a “sad loss”.

Police received a report of a fire at the Action Cancer clothing store on Market Street in Bangor at around 04:00 BST on Friday.

Gareth Kirk, chief executive of the association, said the fire would have a significant impact on its operations.

A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of arson and criminal damage.

Police say the fire caused “significant damage” to the store.

A window was also broken on a door of another nearby business, while a number of other businesses are assessing the damage.

One business owner said he had some smoke damage but would remain open for business.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service sent four appliances to the scene during the operation.

Speaking to BBC News NI outside the store this morning, Gareth Kirk said the damage was a significant loss for Action Cancer.

He said the store was an “important source of income” to enable the charity to provide free breast cancer screening, skin cancer and mental health support services to people with cancer .

“The income is very significant and so it will have an impact on the charity and that's a real shame,” Mr Kirk said.

“I'm really confident, again, we'll have a store in Bangor, our boutique. As for when, I don't know, these things take time. »

Next to Action Cancer is the Marie Dargan florist shop.

She told BBC News NI she first heard about the fire on the news while she was eating breakfast at 6.30am.

“There's a lot of smoke damage, a lot of water damage, the smell of smoke, but luckily that's all there is. I've been very, very lucky,” she said. said Ms. Dargan.

“All the staff have been helping with the cleaning as we go. We have the ventilation running, the fan and the door open, and we just hope for the best.”

Police remain at the scene and are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.