A KIND-HEARTED Nan whose home of 50 years was wrecked in a fire has thanked the public for their donations and support as she starts to rebuild.

At around 9.30pm on Monday, June 1, Denise Brooks was made aware by her neighbour that part of her house was on fire and managed to get out safely before the blaze took hold.

The fire brigade was called and crews from Bridgwater and Burnham-on-Sea were sent to the scene on Osborne Road in Bridgwater.

Denise, 66, was heartbroken to see her home of more than 50 years go up in flames with the ground floor of the property destroyed and the upstairs severely smoke damaged.

Her grandson, Layton Hucker, launched a GoFundMe appeal in June to help her to rebuild her home which raised £2,775 and Denise said she has been 'inundated' with donations, flowers, cards and phone calls since the incident.

"Firstly, I would like to say many thanks for all the kind hearted messages and cause for concern about me and my house fire," Denise said.

"My lifetime home being extremely damaged has been the worst experience ever and the damage is estimated to cost £90,000 due to an electrical fault which caused the fire. It is going to be a long journey before I can go back home, but living at my daughter Tina's and being around family and friends will make this easier.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to anyone who donated through the GoFundMe page which was set up by my Grandson, Layton which raised an extraordinary amount of money. I have received donations not only through GoFundMe, but also privately from family, friends and even people I did not know.

"I was visited by Paula and Natasha who I didn't know prior to this, from a Somerset Care Home called Moorhaven in Taunton. Upon their visit, I received a whole set of kitchen appliances from money raised by staff at the care home.

"Along with this, the staff at my place of work, Oak Trees Care Home had raised a great sum of money too. I would like to place a special thanks to Sharon Payne, Amanda Knight and all the staff at both care homes.

"I would like to say thank you to everybody that has thought about me and supported me in any way. The generosity of the donations will help me immensely to get my life back on track."