A stallholder in Kingston's Ancient Market has raised over £8k after several stalls were destroyed in a fire on Tuesday morning (6 October).

The trader, Tim the Fish, who has had a stall at the market for over 30 years and lost it in the fire, set up a GoFundMe page on Wednesday (7 October) to help save his stall.

He has already raised £8,180 of his £12k target.

Speaking about his fundraiser, Tim said: "For over 30 years, I have had the privilege of working on my market stall and doing what I truly love — serving the local community with fresh, quality produce.

"This hasn't just been a job to me. It has been my livelihood, my passion, and a huge part of my life. Over the years, I've built relationships with generations of local people and have always taken great pride in being there for the community.

"Sadly, this year has become incredibly difficult. With fewer people coming into the market, my earnings have steadily declined. I have continued putting my own money into the stall simply to keep it going and to help keep the market alive for the local community.

"Then, on Tuesday, everything changed.

"A devastating fire has forced my stall to close. Unfortunately, I did not have insurance in place, which means I am now facing the full financial impact of what has happened.

"On top of losing my livelihood, I am left with significant debts for fresh stock that I can no longer sell to the people in our local town.

"After more than 30 years of working hard and serving my community, I never imagined I would find myself in a position where I would have to ask for help."

He continued: "I am now asking for your support to help me get through this incredibly difficult time.

"Any money raised will go towards helping cover the stock and debts I have been left with, the losses caused by the fire, and hopefully giving me a chance to rebuild and get back on my feet.

"If you know me, have bought from my stall, shared a conversation with me at the market, or simply believe in supporting a small local business, I would be incredibly grateful for anything you can give.

"Every donation, no matter how small, will make a difference. And if you are unable to donate, simply sharing this fundraiser with others would mean the world to me.

"After 30 years of serving our community, I'm hoping that now, in my time of need, the community might be able to help me too.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my story and for any support you can give."

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Tuesday and destroyed several stalls in the Ancient Market as well as nearby businesses such as Lush, Greggs, and Hotter.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent four fire engines and around 25 firefighters to tackle the blaze, and the market was cordoned off while the LFB and the Met carried out an investigation.

The services concluded their investigation on Thursday (8 October) with the Met telling Nub News that it is not treating the incident as suspicious and the undamaged parts of the market reopened with traders returning to work as normal.

Construction workers could be seen on site on Thursday, starting work to fix the damaged parts of the market.

LFB later revealed that the fire was caused by a faulty fridge.

In a statement on Thursday, Kingston Council's leader Cllr Andreas Kirsch said: "We're working as hard as we can to get the site safe and secure, and to support traders to get back to work as soon as possible.

"I'm really pleased that the market is reopening and stallholders and businesses not directly impacted by the fire have been able to start trading again.

"Our priority now is to continue to support those affected and help ensure our much-loved market recovers as soon as possible."

Donations can be made to Tim's fundraiser here.