A food shop owner in Bradford fears she may be being targeted, after an arson attack on her store.

A £15,000 industrial fridge was damaged when intruders smashed a window at the Spizarnia shop, in Manningham Lane, Manningham, poured petrol into the premises and set it alight.

Owner Dominika Chudyk, 29, suffered a similar arson attack when she opened her first Polish goods shop in Manchester two years ago.

The Manningham store, near the Valley Parade football ground, only opened around three months ago and employs four staff. It is one of 25 outlets in the north of England.

Occupants of a flat above the shop raised the alarm at about 10pm on Sunday and escaped unhurt. Fire crews confined the blaze to one ground floor room.

Mrs Chudyk, 29, who was assessing the damage yesterday, said she feared it was a deliberate attack aimed at driving the shop out.

She said: “That is what people are saying, and I can’t think of any other reason why anyone would do this. People know that whenever we open a shop we provide a good service and fresh, quality food at a good price.

“I’ve been through it before. There was a fire when I opened our first shop in Manchester and it was done in exactly the same way with petrol being set light to.”

Mrs Chudyk, who arrived in the UK with her husband Karol Lucykoa in 2005 and has opened a network of shops in the last two years, added: “I’m afraid. What if I had been in there with my son? Someone doesn’t want us to be there. We had a window broken before this by someone who wanted to break in.

“I don’t think it’s racist or anything like that. In Bradford it’s a mixed culture.

“We spent a lot of money to open this shop and make our business grow and we bought a £15,000 fridge which has been burned.

“We have obviously lost a lot of money but I feel more sad about it. I can’t understand what kind of people can do something like that. It’s dangerous. Someone could have died.”

Sergeant John Toothill (above left), of Manningham Neighbourhood Policing Team, said the investigation was at a very early stage, but the theory that the shop was a deliberate commercial target could not yet be ruled out. Sgt Toothill said officers were studying CCTV footage for clues to the attack.

He confirmed the incident was being treated as arson.

The sergeant added: “It was a reckless act and we are thankful for the quick actions of people from an adjoining shop, who helped to put the fire out, or it could have been a lot worse.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Richard Bedford, on (01274) 376261.

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