£5,000 reward offered after ice cream van is torched (From South Wales Argus)

£5,000 reward offered after ice cream van is torched

1:40pm Wednesday 25th November 2009

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A £5,000 reward was offered after an ice cream van was torched metres away from a home in Pontypool.

The van owner's son offered the reward to anyone with information on the blaze which caused more than £10,000 worth of damage to the family business The van, which contained expensive freezing and ice cream making equipment and was fully stocked, was gutted in Abersychan on Monday night as the Shaw family went to bed.

Elaine Shaw, 67, spotted the flames from an upstairs window at their home in Cwmavon Road at around 11.20pm.

Her husband Bernard’s two ice cream vans were parked in the back garden around five metres away from their semi-detached home and one of the vans was engulfed in flames.

Mr Shaw, 67, who has sold ice creams around Torfaen for 34 years, risked his life reversing the other van away to prevent it catching fire, and tried to put out the flames with a garden hose but was stopped by his son Matthew, 27.

Five firefighters extinguished the blaze and told the family the van might have exploded if they had arrived just five minutes later.

An investigation found the fire was started deliberately and the family think it may have been someone with a grudge against them or who wanted to steal from the van.

Mr Shaw said his vans have been targeted by vandals before and the stress is affecting his health because he underwent a quadruple heart bypass operation eight years ago.

Confectionary, cigarettes, drinks and a £50 float were destroyed and Mr Shaw fears he has lost thousands of pounds because the van’s contents were not insured.

He said: "I’m devastated. I’m very doubtful I will get anything back for it."

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Gwent Police on 01633 838111.

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