Heartbreak as Halloween display for charity is torched

A MAN who puts on a huge Halloween display for charity has been left devastated after it was burnt to the ground.

- KRISTY DAWSON

Stan Yannetta has been putting on the attraction outside his home in South Shields for the last 19 years.

The 64-year-old looked outside of his flat on Thursday night and discovered the whole display was up in flames.

Firefighters were called to the scene to put out the blaze and police are treating the incident as arson.

Stan, who runs Stan’s Auto Services in the town, said he was alerted to the fire by his brother, who banged on his door at around 11pm.

He said: “I knew there was something wrong.

“I popped my head around the corner and the whole street was ablaze. It was horrendous. The display, from one end to another, was totally gone. I’m gutted, I've cried all night. Gutted isn’t the word - I'm devastated!

“I thought why me? Why have they done what they've done?

“Everybody is saying ‘Why are they bothering Stan?. Everybody knows what I do.”

Stan said the fire service got the blaze under control quickly but it has damaged the roof of his garage, the back windows of his flat and the front porch of his neighbour’s property.

He said: “What they've done is endangered life. My phone has never stopped. People have been messaging saying ‘Stan I can’t believe this has happened to you.”