A SHOP owner has been left mystified after he was targeted by arsonists for the third time in as many months.

Sadaq Khan, the owner of All Second Hands, in Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, said Wednesday’s blaze, which destroyed his shop’s rear emergency door, could have caused a death.

Fire crews were called to Mr Khan’s shop at 11.30pm after a mattress and a set of beer boxes caught fire.

Mr Khan said the items were not at his premises when he left work.

He said: “The fires have slowly been getting bigger, the first one in April was quite small, but the one in May rose high enough to reach the gutters, and then this.

“Just looking at it makes me feel very angry because a mattress can quickly turn a shop full of used furniture and things into an inferno.

“I don’t know what the people who do this are thinking about, there are people living on this street and this is my livelihood.

“Personally, I have a feeling I am being targeted because of my nationality, I think it is racism.

“This is surprising because I have been here since 1966 and have owned this shop for more than 25 years.

“If it’s racism I am disturbed by it and quite angry, I am peaceful and have no enemies.”

A pensioner, 63, who lives near the shop, said she called the fire brigade after hearing the fire.

She said: “I heard all these cracking noises. When I looked out the window I saw what looked like a big fire and called the fire brigade.”

Hillary Millett, from nearby Caulfield Road, said she was very concerned by the blaze.

She said: “This is absolutely disgraceful, it looks quite severe. We have had fires in this same spot before but lighting a mattress could cause serious damage.

“I am going to contact my councillor about this.”

Duty Inspector Paul Hawkins said the police are keen to speak to any witnesses.

He said: “The police take incidents like this very seriously because of the potential consequences to local residents and their property.

“We are appealing for the community to provide us with any information they have about the identity of the offenders in this case.”

A fire spokeswoman said: “We have it down as a deliberate cause. In the broader sense any sort of fire like this is serious and we will work closely with the police.

“If it had spread to the inside of the building it could have been far worse.”

Anyone who thinks they may have information about the incident is asked to call the on-call duty inspector on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.