A SMALL business owner from Blackwood has been left devastated after his new burger van was destroyed in a fire on November 6.

Jordan Jones, 27, who owns The Munch Stop burger vans based in Tredegar, said his new £17,000 van that he had bought just 6 weeks prior, was destroyed after someone set it on fire.

"At 1.30am I had about 15 missed calls from the fire service saying my van was on fire," said Jordan.

"I thought to myself, 'it can't be? I turned everything off and only left there a couple of hours ago.'

"It was then they told me it had been set on fire, deliberately, and hearing that felt like I had been kicked in the gut.

Pictures show the torched van appeared to be burned beyond repair.

(Image: The Munch Stop) "The main reason I bought the second van was because my wife is due to have a baby on Christmas Eve, so it could be extra income while she is on maternity.

"I invested all my savings from the entire you so that we would not fall short, for the baby's sake.

"I got home at 3am, sat there and cried. It broke my heart that someone could do this to my business.

"A business I started from scratch and put my blood sweat and tears into.

Jordan decided to turn his passion for cooking and local food produce into a business after the pandemic left him with little income.

He admitted his family were sceptical of his idea at first, but he wanted to take a chance, and is so happy he did.

Over a week since the incident Jordan has been able to reopen his food van in Tredegar, using his older vehicle.

He will have to spend between £7000 to £8000 in repairs to get the new van back up and running.

A GoFundMe is helping him recover financially from this setback, and Jordan said he can not thank the local community enough for their support and kindness.

"Every successful business has it's set backs. This will only make us stronger," he said.