A FAMILY has been left devastated after a fire ripped through their garden sheds and destroyed thousands of pounds of gifts.Wendy Game, of Morland Road, Ipswich, was visiting a nearby friend when she got a call from her son to say the shed was on fire.

A FAMILY has been left devastated after a fire ripped through their garden sheds and destroyed thousands of pounds of gifts.

Wendy Game, of Morland Road, Ipswich, was visiting a nearby friend when she got a call from her son to say the shed was on fire. She hurried back, but could only helplessly wait for firefighters to arrive as nearly £4000 of goods - most of which were presents- went up in flames.

The blaze on Saturday morning, which caused damage to five sheds in four gardens on Morland Road and Fletcher Road on the Gainsborough Estate, was brought under control by firefighters within 30 minutes and no one was injured. It is being treated as suspicious.

The fire started in a shed in the garden which backs on to the Games' property and while those three sheds were destroyed, the surrounding sheds just suffered minor structural damage. The fire has devastated her husband Paul, and her two sons, 14-year-old Nathan and 16-year-old Matthew.

Mrs Game, 40, a midday assistant at Piper's Vale Community Primary School, Ipswich, said: “None of my neighbours have lost to the extent that we have. The shed where the fire started did not have anything in it and the two other sheds were only slightly damaged. It destroyed every present I have ever bought my husband. All I could do was stand and watch my shed burn down.”

Around £3800 worth of goods in the two sheds were destroyed, including garden tools, ladders, a gazebo, a 18ft inflatable swimming pool, two golf sets, sun lounges, and five bikes.

Mrs Game added: “My 14-year-old son was here by himself when he saw the fire. I still cannot believe this has happened. I've lost my bike that my husband bought me but it is mainly my husband and sons who have lost everything.

“My son normally parks his moped in the shed as I give him a lift to work but it was just by chance that he drove in himself. If the bike had been left there with a full tank of petrol, who knows what could have happened.

“I think we will be able to claim on insurance but why should we have to? I'm so angry.”

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service's sub officer Chris Gibbs, who led the team that fought the blaze, said: “This was clearly suspicious and it was relatively straightforward for us to deal with. But there is always a worry when you go to a shed fire because you never know exactly what is inside.”

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