THE father of a young family whose Watchet home was ravaged by fire says he is “completely overwhelmed” by the generosity of local people who have rallied round to help them rebuild their lives.

Ian Mitcham, 40, said he and his partner, Tina Andrews, and their three children - Honey, ten, Summer Rose, two, and Alfie, eight - are still in shock a week after their rented Woollams Place three-storey end terrace house was left badly damaged in the blaze with the whole property sustaining the effects of smoke and heat.

The blaze destroyed all the family’s possessions, including items of huge sentimental value, such as a Lego collection Ian hoped to pass down to his children.

The response of people in the town to the family’s plight has left Ian feeling humbled and, in his own words, “choked up”.

He said: “Our biggest thankyou has to go to the people of Watchet as a whole.

“When you talk about charity beginning at home Watchet’s the best.”

Ian, who is known as ‘The Bikeman’ in the town, has also lost many of the tools he used for his mobile cycle repair business, putting their value at more than £20,000.

The fire has come just as he was planning to open a cycle repair unit in the town called Starbikes, hopefully before the end of the year, so he is hoping to get back to work as soon as possible.

He said: “When this sort of thing happens life still goes on - there are still bills to pay.”

Ian has been given some basic tools, but he needs more if anyone can spare them.

The blaze could not have happened at a worse time for the family as Tina had just started working for EDF and the family had suspended their house contents insurance for a month or two to re-balance the family finances.

“It was really bad luck,” said Ian.

Family friend Katie Kennedy-Tizzard, of Peel Court, Watchet, has set up a £5,000 appeal on Facebook urging people to make donations to help the family.

She says she wants to help Ian and his family “regain some normality” and at the moment she is particularly asking for donations of clothes.

Katie, the mother of Orla, a close friend of Honey, has set up a donation page at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/help-Ian-and-Tina and has so far raised £580.

Neighbour and friend Ian Human has also set up an appeal to help the family through Revive Minehead.

Ian reserved a special mention for the firefighters who tackled the blaze, describing them as “absolutely amazing”.

He said: “I’ve just been down to the station to give them some ‘hero’ chocolates!

“I’ve arranged for the children to go down to the station to meet the firefighters and see the appliances used to put out the fire.”

Ian also thanked haulage firm T & L Sweet, who loaned a skip free charge to help him clear out the gutted house.

Other people Ian would like to thank include their landlady, Claire Hensley, Richard Godfrey, who is letting Ian and Tina stay in his Watchet house while he is in Cambodia, and Gary Morgan, who helped sort out the family’s immediate housing crisis.

The children are staying with their grandparents in Watchet at present, and Ian says it will probably be at least six months before the family can move back home.