THE owner of the Queen B Boutique has spoken about the "utter devastation" of the occasion wear shop due to a fire.

A fire broke out in the occasion wear store on Stanwell Road in the early hours of Friday, August 19.

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and released in bail in connection with the incident, with South Wales Police not searching for other suspects.

Despite having two other units - one in Penarth, one in Barry - which sell casual wear and are untouched by the fire, the occasion wear store is the flagship branch, and what the business is known for best.

So far it is unknown just how much the fire has cost the business, but owner Jodie Tanner believes it could be "hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage."

Ms Tanner said: "I think this is going to sound awful when I say the worst is yet to come.

"I mean the consequences of their actions, the consequences for me in the months ahead trying to create a business again.

"I think as a retailer, I've only just got myself back on my feet after two years of Covid.

"Everything that we went through, you sort of turn and go 'do you know what? It's going to be alright, we've survived two years'.

"It's taken me that long to get back into a survival position and then for this to happen.

"This is horrendous. In terms of the level of damage, it is catastrophic. My business is in utter devastation."

Ms Tanner had built up the business from scratch years ago and the people came from a great distance to the occasion wear store.

It was listed as one of the top 20 most loved local shops in the UK in February.

Ms Tanner said: "The Fire Service and the CID have been phenomenal, they always get such bad press - they have been incredible.

"The police have been phenomenal with how quickly they've acted.

"Also a big massive thank you to the local community and wider, the outpouring of love and support that we've had is absolutely phenomenal.

"If we were ever unsure of what people though of us as a family or as a business, we feel really loved right now."

Both Queen B casual wear stores in Penarth and Barry are still open for business.