The owner of a popular Tyneside deli has told of her devastation after the company's street food van was targeted by arsonists.
Sam Bruford, who heads up the family-run La Cucina Lounge.Deli, has had a catering van near Sainsbury's, in Team Valley, for 12 years and has operated a shop nearby for the last five years. After the vehicle was one of a number of premises broken into last year, the 32-year-old decided to invest in an upgrade and was just a few weeks away from opening.
However, Sam was left heartbroken when she learned that the van had been targeted by arsonists while it was awaiting some finishing touches outside Catering Units, on the Team Valley Trading Estate, in Gateshead, in the early hours of Friday, March 31. It was suspected that the van was maliciously set alight after someone poured petrol onto the vehicle.
