Family create Just Giving page following Paulsgrove fire that saw smoke pour over M27 earlier this week

Thick smoke billowed across Paulsgrove and the M27 on Wednesday afternoon after the back garden log cabin caught fire. It was occupied by Kim Swanson, who has been looking after her mum who lives in the main house.

The blaze is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault in a fridge.

Kim popped out on Wednesday and her mum noticed smoke coming from the cabin when she let the dogs out.

The cabin was not only Kim’s home but meant a lot to her because her late father built her a stables at the back and she made her home out of the pre-existing structure, as well as adding to it.

Kim has lost everything that she held dear to her – and her brother Paul said that it is not about the objects but it is about the things that hold memories of their dad.

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Paul has set up a Just Giving page to try and help raise money to get his sister back on track because the fire has meant that she is virtually homeless and having to stay with family.

Paul said: ‘I couldn’t believe it, people were saying that you could see the smoke from the Isle of Wight. My dad bought a piece of land back in the 70s and he got permission to build a stables for my sister so we were one of the first houses to have a stables in Paulsgrove.

‘When she did it all up, she kept the stable doors and had a shower room fitted and collected anything she needed – only last week we were saying how proud dad would have been if he could see it now.’

The fundraiser, which was set up on Thursday night, has currently raised £500 and the target on the page is £30,000 but Paul said that anything will help his sister.

He added: ‘She lost everything, she didn’t even have a spare pair of shoes so friends and family have rallied around.

‘It is all of the memories that have gone so anything we raise will help.’

To donate to the fundraiser, click here.